Operation: Transformation
by etowa-ru
Summary: Ciel, bored with anything school related  except the library .  Elizabeth, beautiful, smart, top of the social ladder, the one to know to go from a Nobody to a Somebody.  So when Elizabeth decides to transform Nobody Ciel into a Somebody... AU. Not CXE
1. Stage One: An Offer

**Hi people! Thanks for actually clicking on this story ;D Hope you like it, proper A/N at the end :D**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Stage One: An Offer**

* * *

Ciel stood at the bus stop, his heavy schoolbag carelessly lying on the ground next to his feet. He stared down the road in search of a bus and studiously ignored a group of girls seated somewhere to his right, probably chattering about something unimportant and contributing to the noise pollution in his neighbourhood.

One particularly loud squeal echoed down the street.

"OMG, Josh is coming down the street!"

Everyone at the bus stop, including Ciel and two old ladies who had been frowning at the lack of decorum showed by the group, automatically looked down the street.

_I don't see anyone..._ Ciel thought in confusion. Then, _Wait. Does she mean the car coming towards us at the end of the road? Since it's the only thing coming towards us? How does she know it's him when he's in a car the size of an ant...?_

"What do I do?" The first girl continued to screech at the top her lungs. "I mean, he, like, _bumped_ my elbow with his soccer ball yesterday after class! Does that mean we're, you know, together?"

A second girl, breaking through his thoughts, practically screamed. "He actually bumped you with his soccer ball?"

"YEEEEEES!"

"OH MY GOD, Diana, you are SO a couple now! I mean, you _touched_ his _ball_!" A third girl said. And then the whole group started babbling loudly with excitement. Ciel sighed and began to massage his forehead in an attempt to dispel his sudden headache, wondering how a mere group of five could make so much noise.

"Ciel!"

The boy turned and looked away from 'Josh and his killer smile'.

"Sebastian. How are you?"

The taller boy reached Ciel and smiled calmly down at him. "You know, most people don't say 'How are you?' nowadays, and especially not all formal and serious.'

Ciel raised an eyebrow at Sebastian, who just smirked, and then frowned slightly as he caught sight of the state of Ciel's uniform.

"Ciel, how old are you?"

"You know how old I am."

"Just answer the question."

Pause. "Fifteen."

"Yeah. Fifteen." Sebastian raised an eyebrow at Ciel in return before kneeling in front of Ciel and began to retie his shoelaces. "And you still can't tie your shoelaces or button your shirt properly."

"What are you talking about? I did button my shirt up properly."

"Oh, really. Then can you please explain to me why the ends of your shirt don't match up?"

Ciel glanced down at his shirt. "They do match up!"

"Yeah, right. Just keep telling yourself that." Sebastian tightened the knots on Ciel's shoes, so scuffed that the original black shoes had faded to a dark grey (Ciel had once tried to polish his shoes, but had ended up getting the polish all over his hands instead of over his shoes, and so had never polished his shoes again), then stood and briskly redid the younger boy's buttons, undoing and fastening buttons so quickly Ciel had problems tracking what Sebastian's hands were doing.

"Ciel, you're lucky that our school's not that worried about what we wear to school, as long as we wear their shirts and shorts and black shoes. Or you'll have a much harder time dressing in the morning, having to tie ties and button up blazers and all that."

Ciel looked in amazement at his (now) neat row of buttons.

"How is it that you can do up an entire row of buttons in a matter of seconds while I take a minute to do up one button? You're only a year older than I am."

Sebastian smirked. "How is it that you can't do something that kids four times younger than you can do?" Ciel opened his mouth to retort, but Sebastian ignored it and continued smoothly on. "And I'm better maybe because I get more practice, since you always never do them properly and so I have to fix it for you?"

Sebastian smirked again at Ciel's lack of reply, when he caught the conversation between the two old ladies.

"Those two boys are so touching," one warbled to the other. "They remind me of my grandchildren." The two of them looked over to where the boys were standing.

"I agree," the other warbled back, "The older one cares so much for his younger brother ("Brothers!" scoffed Ciel), running after his younger brother and fixing up his uniform every day. Their care for each other reminds me of when I was a young girl being asked out by my husband."

"They are so considerate of each other."

"Unlike those girls over there." The two grandmothers turned and glared at the group of girls, now loudly arguing about which celebrity was the hottest, and then looked back at the two boys. Ciel stared into the distance, trying his hardest to look nonchalant. Sebastian stiffened, his posture even more upright than his usual, straight-backed stance, and began to smile benignly at the two old ladies.

"Ah," they said to one another. "Look at that. He's smiling so dignifiedly at us, yet he's glaring at us like we just called his brother a 'barmy old codger'! He's still trying to protect his brother from any embarrassment! His devotion to his brother is so touching! Don't worry!" One old lady suddenly called out to Sebastian. "We're just talking. We don't mean your brother any harm!"

Sebastian continued to glare=smile at them.

Ciel sighed. "Sebastian, I don't think they realise that they're making us seem like incest-y brothers."

A horn blasted through the group, effectively silencing both the girls and the old ladies as well as stopping Sebastian's glare.

That is, the girls stopped talking for a moment before beginning to scream in excitement.

"It's JOSH!"

"He just honked his horn at us!"

"Is he going to say hi? TO US?"

The cream and red Mini Cooper, approaching the group at high speed, screeched loudly to a stop. A window rolled down, revealing a brown-haired, extremely tanned teenager. He leaned out of the window and winked at the group.

Diana whimpered. "I think my heart just stopped when he winked at us." The other girls nodded. Ciel and Sebastian sweat-dropped.

"Hey girls. Wassup?" A smile that revealed practically all his upper teeth.

Ciel's muttered "Smarmy guy, isn't he?" was drowned out by the girls' collective greeting.

"JOSH! HI!"

One girl said breathlessly, "I like your car, Josh."

He looked down and patted his car, still smiling that reveal-all-my-teeth smile.

"It's awesome, isn't it?" All the girls nodded in earnest.

Another honk blasted through the group, this time issuing from the bus that had crept up behind Josh-of-the-dazzling-wink's car. The bus driver leaned out of the window.

"Get out of the way!"

Josh barely glanced at the bus driver, deeming only to throw a blasé "Whatever" in his direction.

"Anyway, nice talking to you girls. I'll see you at school later, yeah?" Another wink, and then he was off, with an over-exaggerated engine roar.

The bus driver slowly drove his bus forward, placing the door right in front of the two grandmothers. They shuffled on, followed by Ciel, who nodded a 'hello' to the driver, and Sebastian, who stalked past to sit next to Ciel.

When the girls finally followed the others onto the bus, one whacking the bus driver's face with her bag and another accidentally stepping on another passenger's foot, they sat down noisily at the back of the bus, occupying the seats of ten passengers when there was only five of them.

At the front of the bus, the bus driver muttered in annoyance under his breath as he closed the doors of the bus. Usually, bus drivers are tolerant people. However, when they become annoyed, they can employ an expansive range of methods to make the passengers irritating him to have a _particularly_ bumpy ride.

This particular bus driver, spotting that two of the girls (including the one that had whacked her bag into his face) were kneeling on their seats to talk to their friends in the row behind them, first sharply turned the bus away from the kerb, accelerating all the while, before swinging the bust, doughnut-like, around the corner. The girls at the back screeched as they nearly toppled over into the aisle, while the other passengers sat in relative stability.

The bus driver grinned. Bus driver: 1 School girls: 0

* * *

Elizabeth sat under the shade of a large, leafy tree, her curly blond hair messily tied up in a bun. Next to her, a maid adjusted a fan so that it blew directly at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth frowned. "Paula, the wind's too strong. Please turn it down a bit. It won't do for it to mess up my hair now, would it?"

"Yes, Miss," Paula quickly bowed. "I'll turn it down right now." She turned a knob.

"Paula."

"Yes, Miss?"

Elizabeth crooked a finger at her. "Come over here." Paula sat next to her mistress.

"Can you feel anything, Paula?"

"No, Miss."

Elizabeth smiled sweetly at her maid. "Then would you possibly be able to turn up the fan just a little bit? So that I can actually feel a breeze?"

Paula nodded and turned the knob again.

Elizabeth sighed as a soft gentle wind began to blow towards her. "Thank you, Paula. That's more like it. Now be a dear and make me a drink."

Paula spluttered. "But, Miss! You're still fifteen! You can't drink alcohol! It's illegal!"

Elizabeth nearly face palmed. "Paula, I don't mean _those_ drinks! I mean drink. As in a liquid substance to wet my throat on this hot, hot day."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Now make me one. The usual."

In a few moments, a tall glass filled with frothy, creamy brown liquid and floating ice cubes, complete with a red umbrella, was placed into Elizabeth's waiting hand, who then proceeded to suck noisily on the straw.

"Uh… Miss! Your friends have just walked through the school gates."

Elizabeth, engrossed in her Coke Spider (where coke is mixed with a HUGE scoop of vanilla ice-cream, for those of you who don't know what it is), quickly looked up.

"Oh, they are! Thanks, Paula! Remember what I told you. This isn't a Coke Spider. This is a frappucino, ok?"

"Yes, Miss. Now you better lean elegantly against the tree, or they'll see you sitting like an old lady."

The young blonde quickly leaned back against the tree, extending and crossing her long legs in front of her. She smoothed down her skirt, checked her white blouse for any stray leaves that might have fallen on her, and turned to Paula.

"How do I look?"

"Wonderful, Miss. As usual. Are you going to keep your hair in a bun like that?"

Elizabeth thought for a minute, sipping her drink slowly. "Yeah. It's too hot for it to be down. Besides, messy buns are cute, in a messy kind of way, _and _they're all in fashion right now."

Paula nodded, and then her friends arrived.

"Lizzy!"

"How are you, Lizzy? You're looking good!"

Elizabeth smiled and gently put her drink down. "Hey, girlfriends." She stood up elegantly and hugged her friends. "How are you all? Anything interesting happen over the summer? Oh, George!" she exclaimed to one of the girls. "You cut your hair!"

Georgia smiled. "Yeah. I got it because you know, like, all these celebs are like getting pixie cuts now, and so I got one too."

Elizabeth looked at her hair admiringly. "Well... I think it's cute. Suits your pale skin very nicely."

"You think so?"

"Definitely." Smiling, Elizabeth sat back down, re-adopting her position from before. Her friends threw down their bags and sat around her, chattering loudly at one particular girl.

They laughed. "Tell her, Diana!"

Diana grinned at Elizabeth, leaning back on lean, brown arms. "You know Josh?"

"The one you've had a crush on for like, forever?"

"Yeah. Well… My elbow knocked against his soccer ball yesterday when I was going to lunch!"

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, lunch? Today's the first day of school."

Diana laughed. "Uh… you see, Elizabeth, I joined a gymnastic class, and it's at the same place where Josh plays soccer. So that's why I could see him."

Elizabeth widened her eyes. "Gymnastics? Di, you _totally_ don't seem the type."

The girl sitting right opposite Elizabeth laughed. "That's because there she has an excuse to see Jo-osh."

Diana gave the girl a shocked look. "Sarah, you're like, totally missing the point!"

"So..." Sarah responded with a wicked grin, flicking back long, shiny chestnut hair. "Are you like, saying that seeing Josh shirtless every day isn't, like, you know, why you're doing gymnastics?"

Diana's face was so surprised at that comment that everyone burst into laughter.

"You mean, you never even thought about seeing him shirtless?"

"No!" Diana gaped, a blush slowly spreading over her face. "I mean, like, the only thing I thought about was that I could, you know, like, see him every day! Not see him shirtless!"

"Aww, Di!" Elizabeth teased. "You went just to see him every day? That's so cute!"

"AHA!" Sarah shouted at the same time, pointing at Diana. "So you DID go gymnastics to like, perv on Josh!"

"JUST TO SEE HIM! NOT TO PERV ON HIM!" Another round of laughter sounded.

Elizabeth took another sip of her drink. Di's crush on Josh was cute, but more important things had to be dealt with first.

"Hey, guys."

Everyone turned to her, still teasing Diana about her obsession with Josh.

Georgia, checking the state of her makeup, closed her compact. "What?" she asked crossly.

Elizabeth laughed. "George, I swear you like, spend more time looking at your cute self than you like, do anything else."

"Now that you've realised that," Georgia sniffed dramatically, earning laughs from the other girls, "Can you please like, get on with it?"

"Well," Elizabeth put down her drink and leaned forwards. "It's, you know, the start of a new year. And you know what that means, right?"

Everyone looked at her blankly. Then Sarah gasped. "Operation: Transformation time!"

Operation: Transformation (O:T) was something that the girls had come up with after watching Clueless in the summer holiday after their Year Six graduation. Friends since kindergarten, they had established a routine, or a ritual, where they would camp out at someone's house during the first week of the summer holidays. During that particular, fateful sleepover, Elizabeth had been so inspired by Cher's mission to transform Tai that she came up with the idea for everyone to pick a social outcast in their grade and transform said outcast into a member of the 'in' crowd over the course of the year. Naturally, being giggly tweens, someone had suggested that they work on guy outcasts to transform them into hotties.

Obviously, O:T quickly transformed into a competition to see who could work the most complete transformation, as well as developing an unsaid criteria to see who could get their 'doll' to fall the most in love with them. The results would be judged at the annual end-of-year school dance, where the person who won the grade's Best Couple with their doll would win.

As expected, Elizabeth had won O:T ever since the operation started, and thus every year she gets first choice of doll. Also, because O:T had been amazingly successful, all the misfits in the grade naturally dream of being chosen as being their dolls, as it meant a chance to become the social elite of the school, with the added bonus of being able to actually _talk_ to Elizabeth and her friends. It was so successful, in fact, that other grades at the school had begun to do their own versions of O:T, although, admittedly, none were as great as the original O:T, or the transformations so spectacular.

Elizabeth nodded, smiling. "It's that time of the year again!"

Cindy, black corkscrew curls flying, turned excitedly to Elizabeth. "So, who are you going to pick this year?"

Elizabeth smirked. "Since you girls all like, catch the bus together, you'll know him very well."

"What? We know him?" Mariette demanded, large violet eyes flashing.

"Yep."

"But so many people, like, catch our bus line!"

"Yeah, but not so many get on at the exact same stop as you, right?" Elizabeth spotted two figures, the (much) taller one walking slightly behind the smaller boy. "Look. There they are now, walking across the other side of the oval."

Everyone's head swivelled and stared at the couple.

Cindy first broke the silence. "You mean, you're going to like, work on Sebastian? The guy with the really, you know, scary-but-calm smile?"

Sarah chipped in. "He's so creepy. Like, he's got the height, and the looks, but he's got like, this, you know, like, this scary _vibe_. _And_ his posture's always so like, straight that it's like, you know, like he's strapped himself to a pole or something. Like, if he weren't so, you know, creepy, he'd _totally_ be part of us."

Elizabeth giggled. "Not him! The other one! Ciel! The cuter one! I noticed him the day after last year's dance because he was eating a cake with the _cutest_ expression."

"That's more like it," Georgia smirked. "Short, hangs out in the library like, twenty-four seven, has a bunch of friends that are like, you know, just like him, looks like a..."

"Okay. Time to move on, people!" Sarah interrupted Georgia's analysis quickly. Seriously, that girl could analyse _everything_, and then talk about it for hours on end. Too bad her analysis skills only applied to all things fashion, beauty and dieting. "My turn! I came second last year. Okay... let's see..."

While Sarah began to stare at all the guys present on the grounds, Georgia began to stare at the drink in Elizabeth's hand.

"Lizzie, is that a Coke Spider you're drinking?"

Elizabeth choked. "No! This is a frappucino! Why would I drink a Coke Spider? They were _so_ primary school!"

Georgia continued to stare suspiciously at the drink in Elizabeth's hand. "You do know how many calories exist in a Coke Spider, right?"

"It's a frappucino! Not a Coke Spider!"

Sarah elbowed Georgia, effectively stopping her arguments that 'it is SO a Coke Spider!' by telling her to pick her doll.

"You came third last year, so... pick!"

Elizabeth sighed a breath of relief. If anyone found out that she still drank Coke Spiders... she didn't even want to _think_ about the effect that it would have on her popularity.

* * *

Ciel shoved his books into his locker and slammed the door shut. "School is so pointless!" he ranted to Sebastian, who was standing ramrod straight next to the smaller boy. "I mean, school was created as an institution to educate people, but all _these_ people," Ciel waved a hand around vaguely, "Are more concerned about their social standing than what they learn! It's preposterous and an utter waste of time sitting down in a classroom, six hours a day, five days a week, just to observe egotistical teenagers getting their fix of popularity." The two boys began to walk towards the library.

Sebastian grinned. "What about your precious education then, brother dear?"

"You really need to stop saying that," Ciel shivered. "Just because those old ladies thought we were brothers doesn't mean that you actually have to call me 'brother dear'."

"But, brother dear, it's so amusing seeing you all disconcerted and annoyed."

Ciel scowled. "Sometimes, Sebastian, I really suspect that you were some sort of sadistic dictator in a past life of yours."

Sebastian smiled politely and benignly at Ciel. "What were you saying about your education, brother dear?"

Ciel sighed. Sebastian would get over this 'brother dear' nonsense soon enough. Right?

"Well, you learn things so fast that you practically know what the teacher's talking about _before_ they teach it to us, and then you teach it to me, and so I don't benefit from coming to school _at all_. So coming to school for me is a waste of time."

"What if I refused to teach you anything?"

"You wouldn't. I know you too well." Ciel smirked over his shoulder at Sebastian, who always inexplicably walked slightly behind and to the side of Ciel.

"Ciel! Sebastian!" Three figures, two boys and a girl, ran up to the pair excitedly.

"Bard. Finny. Mey-Rin. How are you?"

"We're good!" They chorused. Mey-Rin glanced over at Sebastian, cracked glasses flashing, and blushed.

"H-h-hi, Sebastian. How was your holiday?"

Sebastian looked down at her. "It was good. Yours?"

Finny jumped into the conversation. "I learnt how to use a lawn-mower over the summer!" His eyes shined with enthusiasm. "And then I mowed the lawns for every house in my neighbourhood for $10 a mow, and I earned so much money!"

Bard snorted. "You actually thought about earning money?"

"Ehehehe... my mum told me to do it..." Finny looked away sheepishly.

"HA! I knew it!" Bard punched the air in celebration. Ciel and Sebastian sweat-dropped. Being right about Finny's ideas, or lack thereof, was something to be proud of?

"Anyway, Sebastian!" Bard turned to the black haired youth. "I learnt how to make pancakes over the holidays! I followed your instructions EX-ACT-LY and they worked!"

Sebastian smirked at the other boy. "Of course."

Ciel looked up at the two. "Could you please not stare at each other over my head? It makes me feel short."

Bard looked down at the much shorter boy. "Ciel, have you grown at all?"

"Ciel!" Finny glomped Ciel, cutting off his reply. "Don't worry, I haven't grown either!" He continued to hug the navy-haired boy with a death grip, ignoring his protests to 'get off him' until Sebastian reached down and separated them.

"Aww Sebastian! Why'd you do that for?" whined Finny. "There's nothing wrong with a hug!"

Ciel glared at Finny. "Don't touch me!" He began to stride quickly down the path, creating a small gap between him and the rest of the group. Behind him, he could hear Finny arguing with Sebastian, albeit one-sidedly, since Sebastian wasn't exactly responding to Finny's statements.

By this time, they had reached the oval, and so began to traverse across it, avoiding the stray bags and food wrappings of their fellow students.

* * *

Under the shade of a large maple tree, emerald green eyes tracked the progress of the group. As the girl got to her feet, the sprawling mass of chattering students around her stopped talking and looked at her. The guys in the group, who had either been flirting with the girls (the 'cool nerds') or fooling around with a soccer ball (the 'jocks) stopped what they were doing and slowly ambled on their way behind her.

The five girls who had sat with Elizabeth in the centre of the group excitedly nudged one another.

"She's going now!" Mariette whispered loudly to Cindy. The two giggled drunkenly. All five girls nodded knowingly at each other, except for one particular honey blond girl...

"Di!" Sarah elbowed the girl in question hard. "Stop staring at Josh!"

"Wuh... what?" Diana looked around confusedly. "What's happening?"

Georgia rolled her eyes and smiled resignedly. "If you'd just stop staring at Josh for _two seconds_," Diana tried to protest, but Georgia ignored her interruptions smoothly, "You'd realise that Liz's gone to give Ciel his doll letter."

Diana shrieked. "She has?" She jumped to her feet, pulling Georgia and Sarah, the girls next to her, to their feet abruptly. "What are we waiting for?"

Cindy smiled, her eyes crinkling up with humour. "Err... you? To stop staring at Josh?"

"Shut up!" Diana ran away from her laughing friends, and quickly caught up with Paula, who was walking slightly behind her mistress. Very soon, the other girls caught up, and with Paula in the middle, formed the 'honour guard' for Elizabeth.

With everyone in the most esteemed social group of the school walking across the playground, everyone else began to follow them (from a discreet distance), one of the rare occurrences that they could feel a part of that group. Most of these extra people's eyes were fixed on the pale girl gliding in front of the group. The girls looked at Elizabeth and wished they were as beautiful and as popular as she was, while the guys looked at Elizabeth and wished that she would just look and smile at them, even if it only lasted a heartbeat, or the unthinkable, _actually become her doll_.

As soon as word that a glamorous gathering of people were walking across the playground, (since almost everyone knew by now that the social elite walking in a group meant that a doll was about to be inducted), nearly the whole school turned out to watch the first doll inauguration of the year.

"They say Elizabeth is choosing her doll now!"

"Oh, I wish it's me." A love-struck boy from the sidelines stared at Elizabeth's elegant countenance.

"As if." His friend scoffed. "Elizabeth is another unattainable dream to us." They all sighed in unison.

A third boy rubbed his chin. "I wonder who she's going to choose?"

"_I _bet anyone who she chooses will be so excited that they're going to fly off their feet. I mean, it's _Elizabeth_. The beauty queen that shook the whole school to its roots when she first stepped out of her limo."

"Yeah. I mean, anyone who doesn't know her must be a hermit. Living on a mountain. Under a rock."

Everyone in their group nodded fervently.

Not that Ciel noticed the crowd and whispers. All he was aware of was the library, a sanctuary from the loud, annoying people who populated his generation. Its doors opened out onto a path that lead to the oval and was firmly closed to keep the cool, air-conditioned air inside the building. Ciel had just put his hand on the handle when a creamy-white hand suddenly reached out of no-where to cover his own. He jerked his hand away.

"Don't touch me so easily!"

He whirled around to face his assailant indignantly, expecting some rude teenager to be glaring right at him. Except it wasn't a rude teenager glaring at him. It was a doe-eyed, willowy girl with blond hair tied up in a messy bun, scraggly bits of hair falling out of it to just perfectly frame her face. Her uniform was immaculate: the top two buttons of her blouse unbuttoned, the ribbon tied artistically at her collar. The hem of her pleated skirt just reached past mid-thigh to reveal long, smooth legs, with black, lace-up ankle boots only emphasising the length of her legs. Her emerald eyes, contrasting dramatically with her pale skin, were at this particular moment staring at Ciel's own dark blue eyes, filled with concern and apology. Pink lips opened.

"I'm so sorry!" gushed Elizabeth. "I didn't mean to piss you off! I just wanted to talk to you."

Ciel frowned in puzzlement, glancing at the silent crowd staring in anticipation at him. Well, most of them looked excited anyway, especially a row of girls at front... He sighed. Why was it always these five girls that were annoying him? Couldn't it be someone else for a change? He continued to look around him, noting with interest that some of the other guys were staring at him as if they hated him to the depths of hell. Ciel shrugged mentally. _It's not like I actually know them, so ignore them, Ciel,_ he thought to himself.

Seeing the boy calm visibly in front of him, Elizabeth smiled reassuringly before straightening and looking around. "Paula?"

Paula hurried over to her mistress from her place in the frontline with a tasselled velvet cushion, on which there was a large, creamy envelope. Paula bowed, presenting the cushion to Elizabeth. Manicured fingers delicately held the envelope as Paula retreated to a place just behind Elizabeth. The girl smiled winningly at Ciel.

"I have been observing you ever since the last dance, and I've found you, Ciel Phantomhive, to be a perfect candidate for this role." Elizabeth handed Ciel the envelope, who took it, turning it over in his hands. The minute his hands touched the envelope, the crowd exploded with screams and enthusiastic shouts of encouragement.

Elizabeth squealed inwardly. He was accepting it already without even needing her to say it! Outwardly however, Elizabeth swept her eyes over the crowd, which rendered everyone silent instantly before turning back to Ciel.

"Ciel Phantomhive," she proclaimed grandiosely, "I hereby announce you as my next doll for Operation: Transformation!" All the onlookers (with the exception of Ciel's friends and the people who had been hoping _they'd _be picked as Elizabeth's doll) cheered, applauding loudly as if Ciel had just won an award.

Ciel, still looking at the envelope in his hands, waited for the applause to die down.

"May I ask you a question?"

Elizabeth laughed. He was so quaint it was cute! She'd have so much fun transforming him! "Of course you can, Ciel! We're friends now."

Ciel nodded. "Well, in that case, I'll be frank." He looked up from the envelope straight into Elizabeth's anticipating eyes, tilting his head slightly to the side. Elizabeth decided there and then that that particular trait of his was going to be his trademark mannerism. She looked at Ciel excitedly, possibilities whirring at high speed through her head.

Ciel raised one eyebrow. "Who are you?"

* * *

**And there you have it. The first chapter of Operation:Transformation. I've actually been writing this for, I don't know, the past three months? Because I've been on holiday, and holidays have this effect on you where you just don't want to do anything... But imminent start of university (my first year! So excited!) made me get off my lazy butt and actually finish the chapter. And post it. And yeah.**

**A shout out to my sister for the constant nagging and idea-bouncing and all those "develop that bit more you stupid poo-poo brain" moments :D LOVE YOU!**

**Spellings/names might be weird for some of you because I live in Australia, and so use Australian spellings/terms :D like tap. And pavement. I'm also basing the transport system and school system on the Sydney network and my high school respectively. Although the layout of the school is my imagination, and Sydney bus drivers are usually nicer than that ;)**

**So... review! Love to see what people think about my stuff! Anyone too OOC? I seem to not get Sebastian right no matter how I write him... so tips will be appreciated! Oh yeah. What do you think of the chappie length anyway? Too long? Too short? Because I'm planning to keep writing them this long unless overwhelming amounts of people are like DON'T!**

**Happy Valentine's Day! (I thought it was appropriate, in a warped way, to update this on Valentine's, because they're manipulating people into becoming their 'boyfriend' (in short) for a year, which is totally twisting the whole romantic version of love). Here's a rose }=== or something like that :P**


	2. Stage Two: An Introduction

**Stage Two: An Introduction**

* * *

The world stopped spinning. The wind ceased blowing. Birds stopped chirping. Bees stopped flying. The sun... kept on shining.

All eyes, human, animal, insect, figurative, metaphorical, turned to the blue-eyed boy still frowning in puzzlement at the girl standing in front of him. Except for Sebastian, who was staring at a stray cat that had just begun to creep across the school yard before it too, froze and turned its glowing eyes at Ciel.

The silence stretched on and on, until Mey-Rin tentatively broke the silence with a soft whisper.

"Ciel... do you know who this is?"

Everyone caught their breaths. Except for Sebastian, who was still observing the cat in all its soft, furry glory.

Ciel's frown deepened, having noticed everyone's attention cast onto him.

"No. Why would I? It's not like I know everyone in the school."

Everyone's jaw dropped, mouths forming perfect 'O's. Except for Sebastian, who was now itching to go over to the cat and pick it up and run his hands through that thick brown fur.

The school had not experienced such unity in its entire history.

Ciel looked down at his feet, a vein throbbing at his temple. The throbbing increased in intensity when he realised that even the ant, lugging an abandoned bread crumb, had stopped on its path in front of his shoe to stare up at him.

"So... Would you please introduce yourself?" He looked up at Elizabeth with a forced smile-smirk on his face.

Elizabeth stared dazedly at Ciel, her mind not registering his words.

_He doesn't know who I am. He doesn't _know _who I am. _He_ doesn't _know _who I am. He _doesn't _know who _I _am. He doesn't know _who I am.

Elizabeth continued to stare at Ciel, lengthening the already awkward silence.

A tumbleweed rolled across the grass.

Paula nudged her mistress with an elbow.

"Miss, introduce yourself!"

No response.

"Elizabeth!"

The girl blinked and shook her head. "What is it, Paula?"

Paula sighed. "Go introduce yourself already, Liz."

Still staring dazedly at Ciel, Elizabeth smiled and lifted her hand. "Hello, my name is Elizabeth. Call me Lizzie."

At her words and smile, the world unfroze and began to move again.

Ciel raised his eyebrow and took the proffered hand. "Nice to meet you, Elizabeth." He shook the limp hand twice and let go of it, where it fell floppily to Elizabeth's side. He inclined his head in her direction.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be going now."

Ciel turned back to the library door and opened it.

"Wait!"

He turned back towards Elizabeth, who still looked dazed but now with a sense of urgency in her expression, one foot inside the door.

"Yes?" He asked her as politely as he could. When would the girl stop staring at him?

"Will you still be my doll for the year?"

Ciel looked down at the envelope in his hands and began to shake his head.

"N –"

"OF COURSE HE WILL! He'll love to be your doll!" Finny, Bard and Mey-Rin shouted in unison. Bard put his hands around Ciel's head and moved it up and down. Elizabeth smiled at him vacantly.

"Thank you, Ciel, for accepting my offer. I'll be in touch!" She walked (slightly unsteadily) back to where she had been sitting before, her friends supporting her and murmuring encouragements in her ear.

Ciel scowled at the three. "Why did you make me say yes for? Now I can't refuse politely!"

All three laughed shiftily in answer and rubbed the back of their neck in unison.

With one last scowl, Ciel turned and (finally) entered the sanctuary of the library. At least, he had thought that he had escaped from everyone. But he had forgotten about the three people still standing outside the library door...

The minute Ciel entered the library, Bard immediately grabbed Finny and Mey-Rin into a group huddle.

"Do you really think Ciel didn't know who Lizzie is?" Bard whispered, chewing on a smoking cigar.

Mey-Rin nodded. "Ciel doesn't lie, so..."

"... he must've really not known her." Finny finished.

Bard nodded. "Thought so... BUT! As his friends, we are obligated to enquire after him and to aid him in his times of need, of which today is a 'time of need', as he did not recognise the school's Queen. Therefore, it will be necessary for us, as his comrades, to ask him and drill him until we know the whole truth, in order for us to fully understand his plight and thus maximise the effects of the help that we will bestow on him."

Mey-Rin and Finny blinked blankly.

Bard sighed. He had memorised all those big words and fancy sentence structure thingies from one of Sebastian's old, full mark essays to try sound smart and dignified like Sebastian always did, but what was the point when people didn't get him? Hell, he kinda didn't get what he was saying himself!

"Basically," Bard grumbled, "We need to talk to Ciel. And I mean, _talk_ to him."

Mey-Rin and Finny suddenly grinned. Bard winked at them conspiratorially. All three of them then broke the huddle and stood and peered through the doorway, looking at the unsuspecting Ciel's back as he sat at a study table reading intently. The librarian was nowhere to be seen.

Quick as a flash, the three sprinted to Ciel's table and surrounded him, catching the boy by surprise.

"So..." Bard began, leaning on the partition that separated the study tables from each other. "What did you think about Lizzie?" He looked down at Ciel and chewed on his cigar.

Ciel looked up from his book and plucked the cigar out of Bard's mouth. "How many times have I told you not to smoke? It smells bad. And when did you start smoking cigars anyway?"

Bard grinned sheepishly. "I wasn't actually smoking. I just put smoking cigarettes into my mouth 'cuz it looks cool. And the cigar's just for today. It was a present from some distant relative who knew I liked to image-smoke."

"That's what you always say." Ciel raised an eyebrow at the much taller guy.

"Hey, it's true! I only do it to look good! I'm still awesome at sport! I can run! I can play! And all of it fifty-million times better than you!"

Ciel turned a page in his book.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Ciel turned another page in his book.

Bard opened his mouth, intending to start raging at stupid-Ciel-who-never-listens-to-him, but Finny quickly pulled him to behind a shelf.

"Bard!" Finny whispered softly, glancing nervously at Ciel who was now staring intently at one particular page in his book. "We're here to ask Ciel about Elizabeth! Not to argue with him!"

The antagonism in Bard's expression immediately disappeared. "Oh yeah... Sorry..."

Finny beamed. "I'll try next, okay? You just relax."

Bard nodded and so the two of them made their way back to Ciel.

"Hey, Ciel?" Finny leaned down from over the partition in front of Ciel.

Ciel ignored him, instead muttering, "Knight to C5... but then I'll need Rook in E3... how about Knight to F3..."

Finny leaned closer to Ciel. "Hey, Ciel! What are you doing?"

"No... that won't work... Rook to B3 perhaps..."

"Ciel!" Finny was now so close to Ciel that he was practically nose to nose with the boy.

"Rook to E8! Is that the solution?"

"Hello? Ciel? Are you listening to me? Do you even know I'm next to you?"

"Checkmate." Ciel flipped the page.

Finny stood back, defeated by Ciel's absorption in his 1000 Masterful Chess Problems."He's not listening to me!" He pouted at the other two before sighing. "I don't even know if he actually doesn't know we're here, or if he's just ignoring us."

Mey-Rin nodded seriously. "I think he's ignoring us. I mean, how could Ciel-sama be so stupid?"

Finny and Bard frowned at her in confusion. "Why are you calling him Ciel-sama?"

"Because he's a _doll_."

Their expressions of confusion morphed into expressions of comprehension.

"Anyway," Mey-Rin continued. "I'm gonna go try ask him now, since I haven't tried." Mey-Rin dragged a chair over and sat next to Ciel.

"Ciel-sama, I have a question to ask you."

"Now this problem here... I only have three pawns to checkmate a King protected by a Bishop _and _a Knight..."

She leaned closer. "Ciel-sama~"

"What should I do?" Ciel continued to mutter to himself, but Mey-Rin could see the vein throbbing on Ciel's forehead. She looked up excitedly at the other two, pointing (as subtly as she could... which wasn't very subtle) at the throbbing vein. Then she leaned as close to Ciel's ear as possible, and began to chant-whisper in his ear.

"Ciel-sama. Ciel-sama. Ci-el-sa-ma. _Ciel_-sama. Ciel-_sama_. Ciel-sama. CIEL-sama. Ciel-SAMA..."

Ciel snapped his book shut and whipped his head around to face the bespectacled girl, who squee-ed in fright and jumped back, knocking over the chair she had been sitting in. The throb mark on his forehead was now so prominent it was practically a _growth_ on the front of his head.

He stood and pointed down at Mey-Rin. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Ciel yelled at her. Then, hearing Finny and Bard sniggering at his reaction behind him, turned and glared at them.

"WHY DO YOU KEEP PESTERING ME? WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

The three of them (by now, Mey-Rin had already gotten up and joined her fellow conspirators) bowed their heads, hands clasped in front of them.

Ciel would have continued to rant, but he had caught sight of the librarian glaring at him, and so he sat back down with a huff.

"What do you want?" He continued to glare at them.

"We just... wanted to ask you what you thought of Lizzie..." Mey-Rin replied in a small voice.

Ciel sighed. "What I think? I've only just Elizabeth for a few moments. I don't really have any opinions of her at the moment."

All three gaped at him. "So you r-r-really did-d-dn't know who L-l-lizzie was?" Bard stuttered in shock.

Ciel sighed and (mentally) rolled his eyes. "Yes, I really didn't know her."

Finny continued to gape. "You actually didn't know her, Ciel-sama?"

Ciel ignored the question. "Why are you calling me Ciel-sama?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE NOW A DOLL!" All three shouted in unison, causing the librarian to come over and _shhhh_ at them.

They didn't even notice the librarian. "Now that I think about it," Bard said musingly, "We need to call Sebastian 'Sebastian-sama' too, don't we?"

Finny nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I mean, he's taught us so many things, and he's always top of the grade for every subject, and he's so good at sport, and..."

Finny continued to list Sebastian's merits, Bard and Mey-Rin (blushing so badly it was probably possible to fry an egg on her cheeks) continued to nod, the librarian continued to _shhhh_ them to no avail, but Ciel didn't notice.

_Is being a doll really that significant?_

He turned to ask Sebastian of his opinion, but... the taller guy was nowhere to be seen.

"Have you seen Sebastian?" All turned to Ciel and shook their head.

Except the librarian.

"Are you talking about Sebastian Michaelis?" She started to gush at Ciel. "He's such a good boy, always returning books on time in pristine condition, always putting books back to the proper shelves – "

Ciel interrupted her praise-Sebastian gush. "So have you seen him?"

The librarian nodded. "Look, he's outside." She pointed out the window and then bustled off, still praising Sebastian to high heaven.

Ciel, Bard, Finny and Mey-Rin gaped. Outside the window, in the middle of the oval, Sebastian was sitting cross-legged on the ground, petting a cat with a content smile on his face. And surrounding him? A dozen more cats, who were frolicking around the seated boy carefreely.

**

* * *

**Elizabeth walked down the quiet street, knowing that she really had to work on her Chemistry assignment, but... her mind just wouldn't focus. Hence her impromptu stroll down the boutique-lined avenue.

She really couldn't understand. Why hadn't Ciel recognised her? She was THE most popular, well-known and universally liked person in the school! Even the teachers smiled and nodded at her when she passed through a hallway. Everyone got out of her way, and her friends were always put into the same class as she was. The principal had even allowed Paula to accompany her in her classes and through the school.

She had been so shocked after Ciel's 'Who are you?' that she didn't even know what she was doing. She could only remember snippets of what happened...

_..."OF COURSE HE'LL BE YOUR DOLL!" Elizabeth smiled. That was enough for her, and she re-entered her monologue..._

_...Sarah was on one side wrapping her arm around Elizabeth's waist; Georgia had wrapped her arm around her shoulders from the other side; Cindy and Mariette were standing behind her and planning ways to embarrass Ciel, who had just embarrassed Elizabeth in front of the _entire school_, so that Elizabeth could go and rescue him, and he'd fall in love with her and follow her around like a puppy; Diana had actually stopped looking at Josh and was holding her hand to lead her back to the tree._

_What would she do without her friends supporting her? Elizabeth wondered hazily. Her mind was now blank, drifting through nothingness..._

_...Paula helped her sit down, propping her up comfortably against the tree. Her friends arranged themselves around her, and the boys who usually hung around her had left after Sarah had commanded them to leave..._

_...Sebastian was sitting in the middle of the grass, playing with a stray cat that had wandered into the school. Everyone avoided him, walking around him in a wide circle..._

_...Paula wrapped her hands around a cold glass tankard._

"_Here, Liz. Drink it! It'll help you. It always does, remember?"_

_She obediently sipped the drink..._

The first moment that Elizabeth remembered clearly as herself was after she had nearly finished half of the colossal Coke Spider that Paula had handed her. She had woken up from her stupor just in time to hear Georgia mutter something, but when she asked her about it Georgia had just shook her head and told her to drink up.

_Georgia was staring at the tankard sceptically. "I swear that's..." She trailed off, noticing that Elizabeth was finally alert but still deadly pale and frail-looking._

_Elizabeth smiled wanly at Georgia. "What were you saying?" she smiled. "I didn't catch what you said, sorry!"_

_Georgia shook her head. "Nothing!" She smiled encouragingly at the blonde. "Go on, keep drinking! You're looking much more alive now!"_

Elizabeth sighed. After lunch, she had gone back to class, but she had been so distracted that Paula had to take her home early.

Why didn't he know her?

Elizabeth had worked _so hard_ to become what she was now. She _needed_ to be the most popular. She _needed_ to be at the top. Academic wise, even if she couldn't beat Sebastian, the human machine, or Ciel, the isolated nerd (who could beat those two though?), she was smarter than the rest of the grade!

How could he not know her?

A shop assistant, a barista and a hairdresser who were sitting together in the alfresco area of a restaurant waved at her.

"Lizzie! How are you today?"

She smiled at them automatically. "I'm fine, thank you. You guys?"

"Yeah, we're good. " They laughed at something only they would understand.

"I'll see you guys around, yeah?" Elizabeth said.

"Yeah 'kay. See you around!"

"Enjoy your meal!" Elizabeth called over her shoulder as she walked away.

While she made her way down the more populated areas of the boutique-lined street, more and more people began to greet Elizabeth.

By the time the tenth random person greeted Elizabeth, she was hard-pressed to keep her frustration hidden.

_How come you don't know me, Ciel-from-my-school, when even the random office-lady and the rubbish guy knew my name?_

**

* * *

**

Hahahahaha and there you have it! They are finally introducted to/acquainted with each other! At least by name :P

**Anyways, this chappie's shorter than the last one, and for that I am EXTREMELY SORRY because I know how good long chappies are, and... I couldn't give you one :( because I thought that where I ended it was a good place to end this chappie :P still, hopefully you liked it! We're gonna see a lot more Ciel/Elizabeth interaction next chappie, since this one I've set up more as an introduction to Ciel/Bard/Finny/Mey-Rin's relationships, and also a lead in to Elizabeth's need for acknowledgement. Why does she need acknowledgement? Well... you'll just have to wait and see, don't you?**

**Everything's been appropriated to the modern world, hence the modern slang :) I'll try to keep it in character but... CIEL IN A RAGE IS ADORABLE AND HILARIOUS! Especially since (don't know if you've noticed) there's practically always a really big throbbing vein in Ciel's forehead whenever he gets annoyed HAHAHAHA he's so cute 3**

**Also, SEBASTIAN THE CAT-PERVERT MAKES AN ENTRANCE!**

**I think that deserves a review alone ;D**

**I also think it's hilarious (chappie titles wise) that the offer is made before the introduction XD just chucking it out there ;D**

**But seriously, update plans: every 14th of the month. Because then I'll have a concrete deadline, which helps SO MUCH motivation wise :) Sorry again that this is three days late DX but uni is very time-consuming. Fun, but time-consuming. Especially because I just started and so everything's all new and unsettling. I mean, we don't get spoon-fed info anymore! We actually have to work and find out things by ourselves :O but that's cool, I guess. New skills and all that :) and I'm doing a fun degree (or at least I think it's fun hahaha) so it's all good. It'll be on time next month!**

**Anyways, what is there left to say? :/ Ummm... all feedback is appreciated! Even if it's just to say hi :D**

**Thank you BloodlyCherryBlossom, Xiang Yun, SwordsMagician, colbub, mayflower, Hetalia Phantomhive and Miaicegirl for reviewing ^^**** You are awesome people ^^ Here's a plate of cyber cookies for you to devour like mad (a la Cookie Monster :3)**

**mayflower: Thanks for reviewing! ^^ hehehe yeah I think Sebastian calling Ciel 'brother dear' is adorable too ^^ Because I don't see them as a romantic pairing, and a demon contract relationship's weird since they're both human here and in high school, so I made them have a... weird relationship. I have an image in my head of Sebastian still tutoring Ciel in everything, and helping him with everything, yet he's not his demon-slave-butler dude... :/ call it what you will ;) Anyway, thank you for your support, and please keep on reading/following this fic! XD**

**See you all next time!  
et-r**

**P.S. for those who celebrate White Day, hope any Valentine's Day chocolates you gave out hoping for an answer DID get a reply!**


	3. Stage Three: Planning

**Sorry! It's slightly late... but not by much (hopefully ;D) Enjoy!**

* * *

**Stage Three: Planning**

* * *

Ciel sat at his desk, nibbling on the end of his pen, before writing an answer down neatly into the A4 exercise book. After he filled the page with small, neat letters and symbols, he meticulously ruled a margin down the side of the next page with a red pen before continuing to fill the page with answers. After using up fifteen full pages with answers, Ciel threw down his pen triumphantly and stretched, leaning back into the antique leather wing-chair.

Sebastian, sitting in an armchair near Ciel, looked up from his book. "Finished your maths?"

"Yes, finally." Ciel glared at the innocent textbook lying in the middle of his large desk. "Maths is so boring. They just teach the same things over and over again but in different ways and different contexts, and then they tell you to do pages of exercises every time they teach something 'new'."

"That's because I've already taught you everything in the Year Ten syllabus." Sebastian said with a smirk.

"Stop gloating." Ciel directed his glare at the older boy, who just smirked harder before resuming to reading his book. A vein began to throb on Ciel's forehead.

"And how come you're not suffering the monotony of maths homework?"

"Because I've finished all the exercises in the textbook already." Sebastian looked over his book and smirked again at Ciel, who just glared at him, before laughing slightly and returning once again to his book.

Ciel sighed again. If only he was as smart as Sebastian, then he wouldn't have to do homework ever...

Putting away his maths work into a neat stack at the side of the wide wooden desk, Ciel glanced at the remaining bits of homework.

He sighed for umpteenth time since starting his homework after getting home from school before reaching for his English notes for reviewing. Ciel tried to ignore the nearly inaudible chuckles emanating from Sebastian's direction as he began to read his notes. Why was there so much homework in the world?

Sebastian laughed quietly to himself as he heard Ciel sigh while flipping through his English notes, sigh while putting down the aforementioned notes and picking up his History notes, sigh while flipping through that set of notes, and then sigh yet again as he put them down.

Four sighs in ten minutes. Sebastian smiled his trademark smile as he looked at Ciel. It was so character building for Ciel to suffer through homework every day.

Ciel, who was stretching in his chair again, noticed Sebastian's smirk and raised an eyebrow in his direction.

"Why are you looking at me like that? What are you thinking?"

Sebastian ignored the younger boy's questions, instead saying, "Are you finished?"

Ciel nodded before pushing his Maths exercise book in Sebastian's direction.

Slipping a bookmark into his book before carefully closing and placing the book onto the coffee table in front of him, Sebastian unfolded himself from the chair and walked over to Ciel's desk. He picked up the book and began to check over the answers while Ciel leaned into his chair, tired from all the work he did for the last couple of hours. The large study was silent except for the occasional _fwip_ of paper as Sebastian turned a page until...

_A-CHOOOOO!_

Sebastian glanced at the younger boy in surprise.

Ciel rubbed his nose, the throbbing vein reappearing on his forehead.

"You have cat hairs all over your uniform," Ciel grumbled at Sebastian. At the mention of cats, Sebastian's smirk changed into a dreamy smile.

"They're so furry..."

Ciel raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, they're cats. Of course they're furry."

"They're so soft..."

Ciel sweat-dropped at the even dreamier look that had overtaken Sebastian's features at the second mention of cats.

"They're so cuddly..."

Lines appeared on Ciel's face.

"They're such furballs..." Sebastian continued to smile sappily.

A loud _thump_ broke Sebastian from his reverie. He looked over at Ciel. Who wasn't in his chair anymore. He frowned and moved to the other side of the desk, where he saw Ciel frozen awkwardly on the floor, with lines on his shocked face and a massive sweat-drop on his head.

Sebastian frowned. "Ciel, what's wrong?"

No response.

Sebastian, still holding the exercise book, knelt down and peered into Ciel's line-covered face.

"Ciel?"

A stray cat hair on Sebastian's collar floated down into Ciel's nose. Which made Ciel sneeze violently, unfreezing him.

The sight of Sebastian's face so close to his own nearly made Ciel freeze again. The picture of Sebastian's face as he thought about cats...

It couldn't have been possible. It must've been a hallucination! From all the maths homework!

Sebastian, seeing Ciel alert once more, stood up and finished checking the younger boy's homework.

"You got them all right. But if you didn't get them right then I'd have to find out how I taught you wrong."

Sebastian's blatant self-praise fully snapped Ciel out of his shocked stupor.

"Your ego doesn't need more inflating, Sebastian."

Smirk and ignore.

Ciel shot Sebastian a glare.

"Stop ignoring me already! And you know I'm allergic to cats; why did you pet them when you know I'm allergic?" Ciel ranted. "And you were petting them at school as well," he continued, "All dirty and unhygienic." Sebastian frowned. Those stray cats weren't dirty! They were neglected and needed to be petted. They need love!

Ciel continued to rant at Sebastian. "You didn't save me from the Annoying Trio either. They just kept asking me questions about Elizabeth or whatever her name was, and you weren't there to help shut them up! And why have you already finished your homework anyway? Always not doing your homework yet always getting the top mark, what's the point of you going to school?"

"To answer your last question, I've finished all the homework for the year," Sebastian said matter-of-factly. "You finish all the maths homework for the topic the day you get them anyway, since I've already taught you. So you won't _have_ Maths homework for a while."

"In fact," Sebastian continued smoothly, "I'll now teach you more, so please take out your books, and we'll start learning the third topic of the Physics syllabus and then move on to studying Act Three Scene Two of _Othello_."

Ciel gaped. "I just finished two hours of homework! We can learn this tomorrow! It's not as if I'm behind in school!"

Sebastian smiled politely at Ciel. "No, if we do that we'll get behind schedule. After all, even if you're learning the work of the year above you, we need to stay with your learning program, otherwise your credibility will be compromised." He wheeled out a large whiteboard and began to draw a diagram.

"We're going to start this topic by first reviewing the reasons why a charge is affected in a magnetic field. First of all..."

Ciel resignedly reached for his notebook. He knew Sebastian was right, but...

Sebastian stopped talking, looking down at the younger boy through his glasses.

"Have you started writing yet? I won't be going through this again."

Ciel picked up his pen and began to write hurriedly. If he didn't take notes as Sebastian was teaching...

Ciel shuddered. Last time he had fallen behind in taking notes, Sebastian had... No! Don't think about it! You'll get nightmares!

As he began to scribble madly down what Sebastian had said, Sebastian smirked before continuing to teach. His punishments for Ciel not keeping up with his teaching were effective indeed.

* * *

Elizabeth walked into her room and flung herself onto her bed. Paula walked into the room and sat down on a random chair near Elizabeth.

"You're back, Lizzy!"

"Yeah." Elizabeth smiled contentedly at her maid. "I got new shoes! They were too cute so I just had to buy them!" She unpacked her new shoes out of the box and showed them to Paula. "Aren't they cute?"

"They are adorable!" Paula exclaimed, looking at the pair of black and white brogues. "They kind of look like what Michael Jackson used to wear in his video clips, actually."

"That's why I bought them! And because Daddy told me yesterday that he thought I should buy one thing a week so that I could start building up my own collections of stuff because he didn't want people to think we were poor."

Paula laughed and got up. "But everyone knows you're the opposite of poor! Anyway, you'll be working now, yeah? I'll go make the usual?"

Elizabeth smiled up at Paula. "Yes please!" As Paula left to make a massive goblet of Coke Spider, Elizabeth put away her shoes into her walk-in closet and changed into her pyjamas before going to her desk. Clearing and neatening the things scattered all over the desk, she sat down and pulled out pens and paper.

Paula came back in with the drink and set it in front of the blond girl.

"Here you go, Liz. And you really shouldn't walk around the house in pyjamas all the time."

Elizabeth looked up and smiled. "Thanks Paula. It's not like my parents mind me walking around in pyjamas. And they're comfy!" She grinned and poked her tongue out at Paula before drooping in her seat.

"I better start work now..." She pouted at the work her Maths teacher had set for them for that day. Two whole exercises!

Paula laughed at Elizabeth's expression. "Work hard!" And then left the room, leaving Elizabeth to her work.

The blond girl sighed before beginning to work resignedly. Maths was so hard. And boring. Why was Maths compulsory? She wished she could choose not to do maths but... that was for Year Eleven, when she got to choose the subjects she wanted to do for the HSC. Which meant no more maths! But for now... Elizabeth sighed as she drew a margin down the side of the page. She still had a year of maths to go...

Finally, the last maths question was marked and finished. Elizabeth stretched and grinned. All her homework for today was finished! Her eyes caught sight of her Science book, where the details for her assignment were written down, to be due next week...

Elizabeth bit her lip. Should she do her assignment now? Then shrugged and grinned slyly. _Nah, _she thought. _I'll do it on the weekend. It's due next week _anyway_. And it's only the start of the school year! I can't work too hard for the first day! So I'm done for today!_ _Yay!_

She slurped up the last bit of her Coke Spider happily before pressing a buzzer on the underside of her desk. Paula soon knocked and entered the room.

"You done already?" Paula said, automatically collecting the glass.

"Yeah... the exercises weren't hard. Just annoying. Stupid Consumer Arithmetic..." Elizabeth grumbled good-naturedly at Paula.

"Just think," Paula winked at her mistress, "You won't need to do Maths next year anymore!"

"I am SO looking forward to that day!" Elizabeth flopped down onto her bed once more and hugged a pillow happily. Paula laughed and made to walk out the door.

"Hey, Paula?" Elizabeth called out. Paula paused, about to leave the room, and walked back in.

"Yeah, what?" She put down the glass and, drawing up a chair, sat down next to Elizabeth.

"How come Ciel didn't know me?" Elizabeth turned over onto her stomach and propped herself up with her elbows, her legs kicking behind her. "I mean, everyone knows who I am. Even when I was walking down the street today, all these people knew who I was and said hi and everything! Then how come my _classmate_ doesn't know me?"

Paula pursed her lips. "I don't know. All these people probably know you 'cause your dad runs so many small businesses. Like, the Midford Corporation one of the largest multi-business organisation out there. So obviously people know you."

"Yeah, but how come Ciel doesn't know me? I've been in most of his classes since we entered high school!"

"You're in the smartest classes, of course you'd be in the same class as him," Paula reasoned. "And he probably doesn't know you _because_ he's in the smart class. He's a recluse, right?" Elizabeth nodded.

Paula smiled down at the blond girl. "Exactly! He's probably been so socially deprived that he's never heard of you!"

Elizabeth turned back onto her back and stared at the ceiling. "Maybe..." she said contemplatively.

Paula looked over at her mistress and sighed. She would be devastated about someone not knowing her, since her father had charged her when she was still a kid ages ago to be the person who everyone knew and liked so that she could help her older brother, the successor to the Midford empire, smooth over existing partnerships and get more business deals. Her brother was too forceful as a person, and even though that helped him manage a business very well, he needed Elizabeth to actually connect to the masses, negotiate deals and increase their reputation.

_And because of what Mr. Midford had told Liz to do_, Paula thought, _she's worked so hard to be at the top of everything. Study hard to be in the top three of the grade, talking to everyone she meets, helping out anyone in need, being friendly to everyone, from her classmates to her dad's employees to her dad's actual business partners, listening to what everyone has to say, sitting in on meetings to get better knowledge of how to negotiate between egotistical business moguls,..._

Paula continued to gaze at Elizabeth, who was muttering under her breath. Probably going over possible reasons why Ciel hadn't known her.

Noticing that Elizabeth was relaxing her face, Paula giggled softly. Elizabeth was still following her mother's advice about trying only to smile to prevent any wrinkles apart from smile lines to develop! Still following her mother's skincare ritual, her exercise regimen (twenty 50 metre laps of alternating freestyle and breaststroke every morning, Pilates four times a week, dance once a week), her advice on how to develop your own dress sense and look immaculate, her etiquette and manners. Everything her mother had done, Elizabeth had copied to try and become the best (future) spokesperson for the company.

And it had paid off. Everyone knew her, liked her, loved her, wanted to be her, wanted to know her. Until now. Paula sighed. Who knew what was going on in Ciel's head? To not know or care about Liz?

Elizabeth suddenly sat up.

"Wha –" Paula started.

"I've decided! I MUST MAKE HIM THE MOST SOCIALLY KNOWLEDGEABLE AND AT THE TOP LIKE ME! MAKE HIM THE BST! HE'S TOO DEPRIVED! HE NEEDS TO GET A LIFE!"

And then Elizabeth smirked. "And who else to do it besides me?" She flicked her hair to the back before bursting into laughter. Paula grinned, happy that Elizabeth had finally recovered from the shock.

"You know, Liz, you shouldn't shout. What are people going to _think_?" Paula teased.

Elizabeth grinned. "Whatever. Now help me make a list of what we know about Ciel and what we need to change about him and what we need to keep."

"Of course I'm helping! I always help anyway." Paula laughed as she joined Elizabeth onto the bed, both lying on their stomachs to look at the sheet of paper in front of Elizabeth.

"First," Elizabeth said, scribbling something down, "he's smart and studious, but he sucks at sport. So we need him to do a sport."

Paula raised an eyebrow. "From what I've seen, he can't do anything else except studious things."

"Huh?"

"I mean, I saw Sebastian tying Ciel's shoelace for him today."

Elizabeth sweat-dropped. "So he literally can't do anything much besides sitting at a desk and studying..."

"Yeah..."

Elizabeth sighed. "I've got my work cut out for me, don't I?" Paula nodded and both looked gloomily at the sheet of paper, where Elizabeth had written 'TEACH CIEL HOW TO DO EVERYTHING. INCLUDING HOW TO TIE HIS SHOELACE'.

Then Elizabeth brightened. "Except for the mannerism. Everyone needs a trademark mannerism, and Ciel's got one already. He head tilts when he's confused! It's so cute! That's going to be his THING!"

Paula laughed. "But a lot of people do that!"

"That's why we need to make it special!"

"Umm... how about..."

And so they continued to plan Elizabeth's transformation of her doll.

* * *

The sun shined down from a cloudless blue sky, warming up the summer morning air. Leaves rustled in the wind, birds twittered their greetings to the world, flies flew around buzzing and annoying the world.

You would have heard these sounds if you had been sitting at the bus stop, if not for the fact that five loud teenage girls were also sitting at the bus stop.

"OMG you wouldn't believe what I saw yesterday!"

"Sarah, stop using that stuff in real life already!"

"What stuff?"

"Stuff like omg, stupid."

"Whatever. Anyway, I was going to the shops because my pen ran out of ink, and I had no more, when I saw Mary holding hands with Stephen!"

Loud squeals echoed down the street. If anyone else had been at the bus stop, their eardrums would probably need medical care after standing next to the group for five minutes.

Fortunately, there was no one at the bus stop.

Until Ciel walked up to the bus stop.

Mariette, who was facing the direction Ciel had come from, was the first to notice that Ciel had arrived. She stopped talking and stared at the boy.

Cindy, picking up on her best friend's sudden silence, swivelled her head around and, noticing Ciel's presence, began to stare too.

Soon the whole group of girls were staring at Ciel, silent, unmoving. The street stopped echoing.

Ciel strove to ignore their stares, looking determinately into the distance. Until Georgia asked him quietly, "How come you didn't know Lizzie?"

He looked over at the group automatically. And then got assaulted by the barrage of noise pollution issuing from the group asking him the same question in different forms, over and over again.

Ciel quickly looked away, but the noise didn't stop. He blocked his ears in a futile attempt to protect his hearing.

_Sebastian!_ Ciel implored at the sky. _Hurry up and get here! Shut them up for me already!_

Sebastian, who had just walked out of his house, felt something that told him to get to the bus stop as quickly as possible.

_Probably Ciel being annoyed by something_, Sebastian thought. And then grinned wickedly before slowing down his pace. _I think I'll walk slower today and enjoy the morning sunshine. It's too beautiful a day to waste walking quickly to the bus stop, isn't it?_

* * *

**Heya people!**

**I would've uploaded on time, except I cut my left thumb on Wednesday, the day before I had to update, which led to me unable to press the spacebar with my left thumb, which then screwed up my typing speed, hence the lateness (according to Australian time, since it's now late morning on the 15th). SORRY!**

**What is the time difference between Australia and America anyway? I've always wanted to know, except that every time I try to calculate it I always screw it up probably because I'm not even sure of the time difference between Eastern Australian Standard Time and Greenwich Mean Time...**

**Also, that was a whole lot of filler. Not much happens, but! I has big plans for next chappie. So stay in tune! :3**

**Apparently (still going with the Valentine's Day thing from two months ago), on April 14th in Korea, they have 'black noodle day' for the people who didn't get Valentines to celebrate their single-ness or something :D which is really interesting :) if you're actually Korean and I got this wrong, sorry :( and then tell me the real facts ;D**

**Thank you for reviewing, Miaicegirl, ash, Maybe it's not my weekend! You make my day ^^ Here's some more cyber-cookies :D**

**Also thank you for the people who have added this story in their favourites/alerts. You also get cyber-cookies XD**

**Until next time!  
et-r**


	4. Stage Four: A Meeting

**Stage Four: A Meeting**

* * *

"Is that the new Funtom game?"

"Yes! My dad got it for me yesterday!" A girl giggled to her friends excitedly as she passed around a fist-sized plastic white cube.

A random guy standing with his friends near her group turned around at her remark. "It's so fun, right?"

The girl nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Oh my gosh, it's so old-school but so modern and it's so addictive!"

"I know right?" The guy completely abandoned his friends. "I love how it's Tetris and Rubik's cube mashed together!"

"Totally! And like, the graphics are so epically spy-movie building blueprint style! All green laser lines and dark background and everything!"

"And it's not confusing because it's so clear!"

"And the touch-screen! Makes life so much easier!"

The two teenagers' friends sighed simultaneously in exasperation.

"She's so obsessed over games. Like, seriously, Shirley needs to chill away from the computer or the consoles."

One of the guys laughed. "That sounds exactly like Greg."

"But really though," another girl said, fiddling with the cube. "This, what's its name again? Cubris or something?" Everyone nodded. "Yeah like, it's so cool. Even I know how to play, and I'm like gaming-illiterate. Like, you just try to get all the random blocks in the thing to fit into a cube, or whatever shape they need you to build, right? This is so typically Funtom."

"You mean cool but brain-consuming?"

"Love how you make up words!" Everyone laughed. Cube-girl, still playing the game, continued to talk. "Yeah. It's like, the game's not hard to understand, but it's so hard to be good at these games."

Shirley and Greg, who had been remarking on how everyone at school seemed to have a Cubris cube this morning, even though the game came out yesterday, and sharing their Cubris techniques with each other, turned around and rushed up to the poor girl still holding the cube.

"You totally understand my frustration right? It's so easy but so hard!" Shirley cried out and clutched at her friend's hand.

"You've said it so well!" Greg clapped the girl on the shoulder. "Funtom's definitely outdone themselves this time. Cubris is even harder to play than that last one, but the rules are so friggin' simple!"

Shirley let go of her friend's hand, clasping her hands together instead. "Whoever's in charge of the games in Funtom is a genius! They should get a Nobel prize or something!"

Greg raised his hands as well. "Amen, Shirley."

Shirley continued to rant. "It's like, their games are simple but superior, their technology groundbreakingly superior, their graphics nostalgic but new..." She cut off her rant to stare at the school gate.

Everyone swivelled around to see what had been important enough to stop Shirley mid-rant about her precious games... and began to stare at the crowd that had just walked into the school.

More specifically, they began to stare at the navy-haired boy walking next to a much taller, creepily smiling guy.

As Ciel made his progress through the gates and started to walk across the oval, more and more people began to stop their conversations (mostly about Cubris anyway) and began to stare at Ciel. Unlike the first 'staring' session, however, their stares were quickly broken up by mutterings and whispers.

"He can't not have _actually_ not known Lizzie, right? I mean, you'd have to live under a rock to not know her."

"There must be something wrong with him. I mean, the only thing he ever does is read and study, so he's probably just lived in his own loner world until now."

One guy swept the increasingly annoyed Ciel up and down with his gaze. "I can't believe there's someone who's more of a loser than me." All his friends nodded in agreement as he continued. "Why did Lizzie have to pick _him_? I mean, she deserves a better doll than _someone_ who doesn't even know who she is!"

Ciel turned to Sebastian. "Remind me why I have to put up with this kind of thing again?"

Sebastian smiled. "Your parents' wished you a normal childhood. Which includes going to school normally with imbeciles, as you call them, who stare at you immediately after you walk into the school in the morning."

"This is pointless. They're even worse than those girls at the bus stop, constantly screeching about me not knowing Elizabeth. At least those girls weren't pretending that they weren't talking about me."

Then Ciel noticed the white cubes that dotted the groups of people and smirked.

Sebastian, seeing the smirk, raised an eyebrow. "What is it now?"

"Cubris is selling rather well, isn't it?"

"Of course, Ciel. All Funtom games sell well."

"And you were worried that the name might deter people from buying them, Sebastian." Ciel smirked wider at the taller boy.

"That's because the name is an obvious combination of 'cube' and Tetris." Sebastian looked down at the younger boy. "Which is a bit unimaginative and corny."

Ciel opened his mouth to retaliate, but was interrupted by the school bell. The smirk on his face slid off to be replaced by a frown. Ciel sighed and began to trudge towards his first class of the day resignedly as the people around him stared, whispered and gave him a wide berth.

_These Neanderthals!_ Ciel glowered at his fellow students. _Is it really that big a deal that I didn't know who Elizabeth is? She can't be _that_ important, right?_

* * *

Elizabeth, who was currently racing to school with Paula because she had forgotten to set her alarm clock, was telling her driver to hurry up when she sneezed violently.

"Are you okay?" Paula asked worriedly. "You're not sick, are you?"

Elizabeth squeezed her nose with her fingers a few times. "I don't think so. It's not blocked or anything."

Paula looked at her in concern until she was positive Elizabeth was okay. Then she grinned at her mistress.

"Maybe someone was saying bad things about you!"

Elizabeth gave Paula a half-hearted grin. "Hahaha. Very funny," she said dryly before turning back to the driver. "Anyway, please drive as fast you can or I'll miss roll call!"

"Yes, Miss Lizzie!" But, instead of pressing down on the accelerator, the driver braked instead.

"What are you doing? This is the middle of nowhere!" Elizabeth nearly shouted.

The driver grinned at Elizabeth. "But we're at school already."

Elizabeth stared at him, then glanced quickly out of the window before grabbing her bag and leaping out of the car and racing towards the school.

"Thank you!" The blond girl shouted over her shoulder to the driver as she kept running. "See you this afternoon!"

Behind her, the driver and Paula began to laugh.

* * *

The Funtom Corporation was arguably the largest multi-industry business network in the world, encompassing every occupation available within its many branches, or Divisions, from architecture to engineering to fashion designing to accounting, from hospitals to hotels to banks. Every Division was controlled by one group of professionals only specialising in whatever industry they were in charge of, and every group of these professionals, or Family, or reported to one person who decided all the 'big decisions' for each Division, and these separate CEOs reported to the Corporation's head.

Rumours had it that the Funtom Corporation was actually run by just one family, where all its family members, when they reached the age of twelve, chose one particular branch of the Corporation that they were interested in. From there, the child would be in charge of certain projects and plans to gauge their ability, and thus would be placed, by the Head of the family, into the Family position most suitable to them.

The people who worked underneath the Families were ordinary people who had won over the thousands, tens of thousands of other applicants for their role in the Corporation. Every time a position was opened within the Funtom Corporation ranks, and its vacancy advertised, a sea of job applications and resumes would pour in. The few people who left the ranks of the Funtom Corporation for whatever reason were guaranteed to be accepted into whatever job they applied for the rest of their life, making the rare Funtom Corporation vacancies even more sought after than their products.

No one ever knew exactly who was in the Funtom Corporation higher ranks. The world knew who the Funtom Head was, an old man only known by his last name, Funtomhive. The world knew only that CEOs for each branch were the wife and children of Funtomhive. But the world did not know who was in each Family of the Funtom World, as industry insiders called the notoriously exclusive Corporation. Moreover, the world did not know who had created the newest branch of the Funtom world, the Toy Division, or who was in charge, or what had made this branch one of the most lucrative areas in the Funtom world in the three short years since its conception.

Everyone important in the business world, including Elizabeth's father's Midford Enterprise, was speculating about the CEO for the Toy Division. Who was it? What did that person look like? After all, not many people had the ability to create a new business and turn it into one of the dominating toy brands within the space of three years.

Despite all the speculation (maybe it's a joint collaboration between the Engineering and Entertainment Divisions), rumours (I bet the CEO is an older person with experience!) and conspiracy theories (maybe the Funtom Toy Division got so big because they've tied themselves to the darker side of society...), no one would've ever guessed the truth.

Who in their right mind would be able to guess that a fifteen year old boy currently targeted by the daughter of the CEO of the Midford Enterprise for a transformation was responsible for the rise of the Toy Division single-handedly?

* * *

Ciel trudged out of the school. Today was Friday, which meant that he had two days free from all his classmate's annoying whispers and stares. Not that he minded their attention, not really, but when everyone gives you attention behind your back while pretending they are not... well, everyone would get annoyed at that, right?

Sebastian was not improving his mood either.

"Sebastian," Ciel said without turning around, vein throbbing on his forehead, "I know you have a cat in your arms even if you're walking behind me."

Sebastian didn't bat an eyelid. "You need to calm down and relax, Ciel. Your vein's been almost constantly throbbing since yesterday when Elizabeth claimed you as her doll."

Ciel ignored him. "And you know that I'm allergic to cats, and I reminded you yesterday after school, but why do you still insist on playing with the things? And now carrying them around?"

"Because I love them."

Both Sebastian and the cat (which was, incidentally, the cat that Sebastian was playing with the day before after Ciel's induction as Elizabeth's doll) simultaneously purred, the cat butting its head against Sebastian's cheek, who was rubbing it against the cat's fur.

Twin beams of malevolence aimed at Sebastian's head. Sebastian stopped rubbing his cheek on the cat; the cat stopped butting its head against Sebastian's. Both turned to look at Ciel, whose eyes had become two rays of pissed-off-anger.

Sebastian sighed. "Fine. I'll let it go."

He knelt down and gently put down the cat, cupping its head gently with his hands. Cat and human stared at each other for a moment before Sebastian stood up and dusted himself down and the cat slinked off under a bush.

Ciel raised an eyebrow. "You looked like you were talking to the cat."

Sebastian smirked but did not say anything.

For the rest of the trip home, Ciel avoided Sebastian as much as he could. Even when they reached Ciel's study and began to do their homework (or at least, Ciel was doing his homework. Sebastian, as usual, had finished his homework before the teacher had even set it), Ciel was trying to distance himself from Sebastian as much as possible.

When Ciel had finished, and Sebastian was looking over his answers (for Science, this time), Ciel scooted to the far side of the table in his chair.

"What are you doing? You've been avoiding me since I let that cat go," Sebastian said exasperatedly.

Ciel folded his arms and looked away. "I was avoiding your cat aura and the stray cat hairs on your clothes," the boy huffed.

Sebastian nearly rolled his eyes. "You're acting like a child."

Ciel stuck his tongue out at Sebastian.

"That just proves my point. Anyway, I don't have cat hairs on my clothes. I made sure of that. And what do you mean by cat aura?"

Ciel shuddered. "Somehow, sometimes... you exude an overwhelmingly strong 'I LOVE CATS!' aura..."

Sebastian blinked in surprise. "I do?"

"Yeah..." Ciel slowly rolled his chair back next to Sebastian. "Are you sure you don't have cat hairs on you?"

Sebastian nodded in confirmation, then passed Ciel's homework back to him. "You have one wrong answer here."

Ciel took one look at the answer before rubbing out a section and writing the new answer in. Sebastian did not even glance at the corrected answer.

"Since you know what you got wrong, I won't go over that material again and instead start on today's topic..."

* * *

"Thank you for the meal, Mrs. Phantomhive. It was delicious."

Ciel's mother laughed. "Thanks, Sebastian. I was worried about the taste since I don't cook much nowadays." Sebastian smiled politely and protested that she was just as good as their cook, if not better.

"You've always been such a sweet talker!" Mrs. Phantomhive laughed again. "Think of your meal as my way of saying thanks, Sebastian. I've heard from the cook that you've been staying longer than usual to teach Ciel more things to help him advance his education. Thank you for doing this for us."

"Well, it is part of the Michaelis family to help our ancestral cousins the Phantomhive family in any way possible."

"True." Ciel's mother smiled at Sebastian. "But you're especially close to Ciel than the others, and you give Ciel companionship, so I'm still going to thank you."

Sebastian bowed slightly at the Engineering Division CEO. "Then, I'll be leaving now."

"Before you leave, Sebastian," said Ciel's mother, "Are you free tomorrow morning? There's a Funtom meeting from nine-thirty to twelve-thirty tomorrow."

Sebastian nodded. "I'll be there. See you tomorrow morning, Mrs. Phantomhive, Ciel."

Ciel, who had been standing behind his mother, spoke up. "You came home a few hours early today. What happened?"

She turned around and ruffled her son's hair, ignoring his protests about being treated like a child. "We finished work on the new engine faster than expected, and since there wasn't enough time to check it, we decided to go and test it after the meeting tomorrow."

Ciel nodded, and both began to walk down the hallway when the doorbell rang.

"Who is it?" Ciel's mother turned back and unlocked the door, shooting her son a puzzled look.

Ciel was just as confused. Who would come and visit them? Sebastian? But then he had his own key to the house; he didn't need to knock. Everyone else who frequented the house, including the maid, cook and gardener, had their own keys as well.

The door swung open. Ciel could see a flash of blond hair from his vantage behind his mother.

His blood ran cold. No way...

"Hi, Mrs. Phantomhive, sorry to visit at such a late hour!" The voice that had caused all of his troubles at school cheerfully filled the hallway.

Ciel could imagine the polite-but-confused smile on his mother's face. "Excuse me, but who are you?"

Elizabeth laughed. "I'm so sorry for forgetting to introduce myself! I'm Elizabeth Midford, Ciel's friend from school, but everyone calls me Lizzie. I would've called him to prevent me from disturbing you, but I don't have his phone number. This girl behind me is Paula, my friend."

Ciel's mother smiled. "Well, Lizzie, let me call Ciel to see you." She turned around and beckoned him over. Elizabeth stuck her head out from behind his mother and smiled.

"Hey, Ciel! I didn't get a chance to talk to you at school today."

Ciel smiled weakly back and walked towards the door, dragging his feet to prevent him from reaching the blond girl faster. His mother noticed and raised an eyebrow. Ciel noticed and immediately walked briskly over to the door.

"Good evening, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth laughed. "Why so formal? I like that. You're keeping that." Paula, who had been standing slightly behind Elizabeth, nodded and jotted it down on a notepad.

Ciel and his mother stared at Elizabeth, even more confused than before. Keeping that? Keeping what? What for?

Elizabeth turned back to Ciel. "Well, the reason for my impromptu visit is to ask if you would like to meet up with me tomorrow, Ciel."

Ciel's jaw dropped open. He didn't want to spend time being a doll for this girl, or whatever he was to her, let alone go 'meet up' with her.

Ciel's mother, on the other hand, had other ideas.

"Of course he'd love to go, wouldn't you, Ciel? He's busy tomorrow until twelve-thirty in the afternoon though, so how about meeting at one? Where would you like to meet?"

**Elizabeth smiled. "Well, I was thinking of Viva cafe down near St. Agnes' Cathedral, because then we can have lunch there as well."**

"That's settled then. Ciel will meet with you at one tomorrow at Viva cafe."

Elizabeth nodded to the older woman. "Nice meeting you, Mrs. Phantomhive!" She turned to Ciel, who was desperately trying to get his face to smile. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Ciel. Good night!"

She and Paula walked down to the black car waiting at the kerb. Elizabeth turned around and waved at the pair standing at the door before getting into the car.

As the car drove away, Ciel's mother looked over at her son.

"How did you manage to become friends with such a nice and pretty girl, Ciel?"

Ciel smiled at her, his eyebrow twitching. "I didn't become friends with her; she made me become her friend."

She sighed. "At least you made a new friend. That's good enough for me."

* * *

Ciel and Sebastian walked out of the meeting room in the Funtom Headquarters surrounded by the other CEOs of the numerous Divisions in Funtom World and their partner Michaelis family member.

"That meeting went well, didn't it?" Ciel asked Sebastian. "Our report and plans for our new toy were both well received, and the Corporation is thriving, as usual."

Sebastian nodded. "The only other main competition is Midford Enterprise after all, and they do not have as wide a range as we do, only specialising in the finance, engineering, fashion, arts and entertainment sectors."

Ciel's mother interrupted their conversation.

"Ciel! If you don't get into the car now you'll be late for your meeting with Elizabeth!"

Ciel grimaced at his (impending) doom. "Why must I go?" he whispered to himself.

Unfortunately, his mother heard his remark. "I've told you before, Ciel. You never break a promise you make. It's especially important for you because you're a Division CEO, understand? Now go!"

She turned to Sebastian to ask him to escort Ciel down to the car, but Sebastian had already pulled a reluctant Ciel into the elevator and down into the car park.

Ciel's mother smiled. Sebastian was such a nice boy. He was perfect as Ciel's companion; he knew what Ciel needed before anyone else needed to tell him.

Unlike his mother, however, Ciel was currently cursing his companion.

"Why did you need to pull me? I would've gone anyway!"

"Because," Sebastian said, not looking at Ciel, "You walk too slowly."

The elevator doors dinged open, and Sebastian quickly marched Ciel to the nearest car.

"Could you please drive Ciel to Viva cafe please?" Sebastian asked the driver as he shoved the smaller boy into the backseat.

The driver nodded and started the engine. Sebastian buckled Ciel's seat belt.

"Have fun with Elizabeth today!" Sebastian smiled at Ciel, who broke out into a cold sweat. Was it just him, or was Sebastian's smile slightly evil...?

Immediately after the door closed, the driver pressed down on the accelerator and the car smoothly drove out of the car park.

Ciel sighed and began to prepare himself for the meeting ahead.

* * *

Elizabeth wiped her mouth with her napkin before taking a sip of her tea.

"What time is it, Paula?" She glanced at the brunette sitting next to her before resuming her gaze down the street.

"Twelve-fifty. He should be here soon"

They sat in silence for a while before Elizabeth looked at Paula with a lazy smile. "I love sitting alfresco at cafes in the sun."

Paula giggled. "I know, Miss."

Elizabeth frowned. "What happened to Liz?"

"We're in public right now. Your father specifically asked me to address you as Miss in public."

"But it's not like people are listening to us talk right now."

Paula rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but what if it becomes a habit? Then it'll be bad if your dad found out."

"He won't!" Elizabeth suddenly laughed. "But if it makes you happy, then whatever."

At precisely one o'clock, when the clock in the cathedral was ringing out the time for the world to hear, a black sedan slid to a stop outside the cafe.

Elizabeth and Paula looked at each other in excitement.

"I think that's him!" Elizabeth whispered to Paula.

"Yeah, I think so too!" The two girls giggled. "I'll get the stuff out."

As Paula took out her pens and her notepad (labelled 'CIEL' on the front with large bold letters), Elizabeth straightened her posture in preparation to welcome Ciel.

The door of the car opened. A person stepped out of the car.

Elizabeth and Paula gaped.

What was Ciel wearing? Some form of archaic clothing from the nineteenth century? Who wore knee high black socks, navy knee-length shorts and a matching coat (with coattails!) complete with a large white bow at the neck, top hat and black leather shoes with wooden heels?

Ciel, looking around him, spotted Elizabeth and Paula and walked over.

"Good afternoon, Elizabeth, Paula. May I sit?" He gestured to the seat opposite Elizabeth.

"Hi Ciel," said Elizabeth automatically, still dumb-founded by Ciel's appearance. "Of course you can sit down."

Ciel sat down and took his top hat off. At that, Elizabeth and Paula, who had just adjusted to Ciel's appearance, stared at Ciel once again.

He looked at them awkwardly. _Don't tell me_, Ciel sighed to himself, _that they are going to just stare at me..._

After a few long minutes, Elizabeth finally found her voice again.

"Ciel, why do you have an eye-patch over your right eye?"

Ciel blinked. They were staring at him just because of his eye-patch? Was it that weird for them?

"I wear an eye-patch," he explained, "Because my left eye is a lazy eye, and so to strengthen it and make it work harder, I cover my right eye with this eye-patch."

Paula automatically began to take notes from Ciel's answers in her notebook as Elizabeth continued to ask Ciel questions about the eye-patch.

"How come you don't wear it to school?"

"Because I want to live as unobtrusively as possible, and wearing an eye-patch to school would result in the entire school taking note of me, which is the opposite of what I want."

"Why an eye-patch? Can't you do laser surgery to fix it?"

"I could, but laser surgery is pointless when this is easily fixed by an eye-patch."

"Where else do you wear it?"

"Everywhere except school." Then Ciel countered Elizabeth's onslaught of questions with one question of his own.

"What's your purpose of calling me out here?"

That snapped Elizabeth out of her fascination with Ciel's eye-patch.

"I asked you to meet me," Elizabeth smiled at Ciel, "Is because I need to know you better, and so I thought of coming out and asking you questions, talking to you, to get a feel of who you are."

Ciel cocked his head to the side. "And then you'll change the bits you don't like?"

Elizabeth shook her head in protest. "That's not the point of today! And I don't change people too much, just enough for them to sit at the top with me."

"Okay..." Ciel nodded slowly and sighed. _Stupid Finny. Stupid Mey-Rin. Stupid Bard. Who told them to agree to this thing for me?_

"Anyway," Elizabeth continued brightly. "Do you want to order? My shout." She pushed the menu towards Ciel.

"No, I'll pay for it myself."

Elizabeth shook her head. "I won't let you. Even if you do give me the money, you'll find it tucked into your clothing later. So don't bother trying."

Ciel sighed. What was wrong with this girl? But he couldn't be bothered arguing and so accepted her words obediently. After he decided on a toasted focaccia with goat's cheese, smoked honey-roasted ham, tomatoes, lettuce and caramelised onions, Paula went to the counter and ordered it for him.

"Thank you, Paula."

Paula smiled. "My pleasure." In her notebook, she jotted down 'Polite'.

While waiting for Ciel's focaccia to arrive, Elizabeth studied every aspect of Ciel intently, occasionally murmuring things to Paula, who would then write it down. Ciel studiously ignored them, pretending that they weren't staring at him by looking down the road and people-watching.

When the focaccia did arrive, Ciel picked it up with two hands and bit into it. At this, Elizabeth murmured something else to Paula, who, of course, faithfully wrote it down.

This continued until Ciel had finished his lunch.

"Now," Elizabeth said as Ciel wiped his mouth with a spare napkin, "I'm going to start asking you questions now. Just answer them as honestly as you can, and don't mind Paula writing stuff down, okay?"

Ciel nodded tiredly. When was this going to end? He wanted to go home...

"Question Number One." Elizabeth looked into Ciel's eyes intently to instantly detect any lies from him. "Let's start with an easy question. When's your birthday?"

"December 14th."

"What's your favourite colour?"

"Navy or midnight blue."

"Oh really? How dark! I personally like light and bright colours."

Ciel nearly yawned but caught himself. If he was caught yawning, who would know what this girl would do to him?

"Who are your closest friends?"

"Sebastian. And Finny, Mey-Rin and Bard, I suppose."

"Anyone else?"

"No."

Elizabeth frowned. He was so blasé about it all. Did Ciel even care about his friends? She definitely needed to help him improve on his social skills.

"Okay, next question. Why are you wearing Victorian style clothing?"

"Because I like to."

"Why?"

"I find it more comfortable than current fashions. And infinitely more elegant and refined."

Elizabeth nodded. She could work with that. In fact, she might just update his style to modern versions of elegant and refined and let him dress like that. It certainly suited him. She couldn't even imagine Ciel wearing something like jeans, let alone a T-shirt or joggers.

"Paula," Elizabeth whispered to her maid, "Remind me to organise a shopping date with him soon. I need to revamp his wardrobe to something cooler."

"Will do."

Elizabeth turned back to Ciel.

"So... What books do you like to read?"

* * *

At four in the afternoon, Ciel finally got back home. He stumbled through the house and somehow made it into his bedroom, fumbling his way out of his clothes without popping a single button (a first for him) into a silk, oversized white sleeping shirt and crawling into bed. He was so tired that he couldn't even be bothered taking off his eye-patch.

How do people socialise every day? It was tiring just talking to one person for three, four hours, and people did it all day, every day. Ciel couldn't understand how they found the energy to socialise. Especially Elizabeth, who seemed to be friends with anyone and everyone. Hopefully she wouldn't call him out to meet up with her anytime soon... It was too tiring... He hadn't felt this tired since Sebastian forced Ciel to read _Macbeth_ in one sitting after learning about trigonometry...

Slowly, slowly, Ciel's eyelids drooped lower until he was fast asleep, dreaming of a world where people didn't need to socialise and instead just wandered around with at most one person for company.

* * *

**Hi guys :D Hope you liked that chappie :DDD**

**I'M SO SORRY FOR POSTING THIS LATE! And not just a few mere hours, but BY NEARLY A WEEK! I had started this a long time ago, but life (and procrastination) happened and so it's late :(**

**I'm doing a really crap job at sticking to my own deadlines, aren't I? :/ However, do not despair! By the time the next chappie's due on June 14th, I'll have started my holiday, which means no excuse for lateness! And I'm on holidays until the end of July, so the 14th of July update shouldn't be late either :D So I guarantee at least two on-time updates. And who knows? Having all those free days may mean more frequent updates for those six weeks ^^**

**And yes, I live in Australia, so those six weeks of holidays are my WINTER HOLIDAYS! My summer holidays? Three months long! Omgsh I feel like I'm permanently on holidays it's so cool XD this one of the biggest perks of going to uni 3 the other major major awesomeness of going to uni being my course not needing exams so no exams for me whoo~~**

**Anyways, shout out to my reviewers: Mikki Phantomhive (your review guilt-tripped me so bad it gave me motivation XD hopefully I don't need guilt-tripping for motivation any more ;P), Innocence Flowing Time, FullMetal Muffins, Miaicegirl, Circus0900, colbub! Because everyone gives cyber-cookies, I thought I'd be different and give you cyber-scones, complete with jam and cream, since Kuroshitsuji is set in England after all.**

**FullMetal Muffins: Thanks for reviewing! Hahaha I can't wait until I reach the bit where Elizabeth starts to try change Ciel 'for the better' either XD Just thinking about it makes me excited :D**

**Well then, until next time!  
et-r**


	5. Stage Five: Shopping

**Stage Five: Shopping**

* * *

Ciel walked onto the school grounds, Sebastian a step behind him, and cautiously looked around. No siSgn of Elizabeth this morning. He sighed in relief and began to walk deeper into the school. It was Thursday today; six days since that extremely tiring and pointless café meeting.

He had expected dramatic announcements and even more tiring and pointless exercises forced upon him by Elizabeth during the week, stuff like 'How to Walk like You Own the School' or 'How to Maintain Your Dignity in the Face of Adversity' lessons.

He had imagined that, the day after their coffee/lunch date, she would suddenly start following him everywhere with her maid and that stupid notebook to take more notes of him, which would result her friends following her following him, and then his peace and quiet would be ruined. Forever. After all, she'd already found out where he lived AND visited him once, so it wasn't entirely impossible.

Ciel shivered involuntarily. Even just thinking about all those people following him and making a racket…

From behind, Sebastian noticed the shiver and smirked.

"Are you still thinking about Elizabeth and her… what did you call them? 'Doll-making torture methods'?"

Ciel visibly collected himself. "No. Why would I bother wasting my time thinking about her? She is nothing more than an inconvenience."

Sebastian smiled. Other students who happened to notice his smile stepped away from the pair walking across the school.

"Of _course_, Ciel." His voice dripped sarcasm. "How could you have been thinking about Elizabeth when you've only spent the last six days thinking about her and how to avoid her?"

Ciel turned around violently. "I haven't been thinking about her!" He said in a hoarse whisper in an attempt to keep his voice down. No need to attract more attention than the attention Elizabeth had already attracted for him. "I told you, she's only something bothersome!"

Ciel turned back around and marched into the school building. Sebastian followed and grinned at how easy it was to tease Ciel.

"You shouldn't worry, Ciel." Sebastian's grin faded back into his customary smile. "It's been six days since the date, and four days since the school week started. If she wanted to do anything, she would've done it by now."

Ciel swung his locker door open. "That's why I'm worried. What was the point of the Saturday meeting? The only thing she did was ask me questions. The only thing I did was answer those questions. What is she going to do with all that information? What does she have planned for me based on that information? When is she going to implement those plans? That's what's worrying me."

Sebastian leaned against the row of lockers next to Ciel's. "She's an easy enough person to read, and she doesn't seem to be planning anything. Elizabeth's only greeted you or smiled at you this entire week. Not exactly the behaviour of someone planning something momentous. Besides, you ignore her half the time anyway, nodding at her only when you feel like it."

Ciel sighed and grabbed some books from within his locker. "You don't suppose she's given up on changing me?"

Sebastian nearly laughed at the misplaced hope shining in Ciel's eyes. "I thought I told you that the best case scenario ever happens."

The hope disappeared in Ciel's eyes as he turned to close his locker. "I remember. 'Never expect the best to happen; Always prepare to face the worst'." He turned the key, relocking his locker, and put the key in his pocket.

Two girls walked past the pair, giggling at something or other.

Ciel smiled faintly and began to walk down the corridor. _The only good thing about Elizabeth practically ignoring me_, Ciel reflected, _is that everyone else has stopped staring at me or whispering about me._

Even though Sebastian couldn't see Ciel's face, he could guess what his distant cousin was thinking. He shook his head. _Poor, deluded Ciel_, he thought with a smile,_ do you really think that Elizabeth will let you stay in your preferred anonymity forever? I bet that she's going to thrust you into the spotlight very soon, so enjoy your anonymity while you can_.

* * *

Josh sped down the road, checking his reflection in the rear-view mirror, before screeching to a stop in front of a bus stop occupied by a gaggle of girls.

He rolled down the window and leaned over. "Hey girls, wassup?"

Three girls screamed their hellos, the other two waved as a greeting.

"Hey Josh," one of the waving girls said, "Do you think I should stop dyeing my hair and like, let it go back to black?"

Josh turned and looked at the girl critically. "I think you should, Sarah. You haven't had black hair for ages, and anyway, black hair's back again."

Sarah idly inspected one chestnut-brown lock of her hair, twisting and turning it through her fingers. "You think so?"

"Definitely," Josh nodded empathetically.

Georgia, who had also waved, elbowed Sarah lightly. "I told you that you should have black hair again! Especially since all things Asian are coming back in, so you should go back to your black-haired Asian roots.

Josh grinned and turned to the other three girls as Sarah made some form of retort.

"I missed you at the gym yesterday, Di. Where were you?"

Diana grinned and tried to ignore her racing heart. "Oh, you know. I had to like, do this thing for my parents. I'll be going today again, don't worry."

Josh grinned at her. "That's awesome!"

As Diana made some sort of reply, Josh noticed the raven-haired boy standing stiffly on the side inconspicuously, and began to look over him curiously. Occasionally saying 'Totally' and 'Uh-huh' at what the girls were saying to make it seem like he was listening, Josh's mind began to turn.

Even though it had been nearly two weeks since Elizabeth had announced Ciel as her doll, Josh still couldn't understand how anyone could not know Elizabeth, who made sure she knew everyone and everyone knew her. How could one boy slip under her radar? Or maybe she knew about him but he forgot about her?

By this time, Sebastian had reached the bus stop and had joined Ciel.

Josh kept staring at the boy. But then, who could forget someone as nice and as pretty as Elizabeth? She'd always been the one that everyone wanted to be, even in primary school, and unlike other girls, no one ever hated her.

_Anyway_, Josh reasoned, _it's weird that Ciel Phantomhive doesn't know Liz. Why choose him?_

Then something caught his attention.

_Phantomhive? How come that sounds so familiar? Maybe I'll ask Liz at the party tonight._

A sudden beep jolted Josh out of his thoughts. He glanced into the mirror.

A bus was bearing down on his car, an irate bus driver grinning maniacally and evilly at him behind the wheel.

The girls screamed. "OH MY GOD WHY ISN'T THE BUS DRIVER STOPPING?"

Josh screamed. "MY CAR!"

The bus driver, seeing their panic, grinned wider but stepped on the brake to slow the bus down.

Not that they noticed. Josh hurriedly accelerated away, throwing a panicked 'See you later!' at the group.

Moments after he left, the bus slid into place in front of the bus stop, right where Josh had stopped before.

The girls whispered and glared at the bus driver as they got on the bus and walked to the back of the bus. Ciel and Sebastian, who had watched the whole incident and noticed that the bus had been slowing down and wouldn't have crashed into Josh's car anyway, shared a smirk with the bus driver before sitting down.

The bus driver smiled and gently eased away from the kerb. No point in aggravating the kids even more, now that he'd finally gotten back at that arrogant kid always blocking his bus stop.

Besides, ever since the start of school two weeks back, he was winning anyway. Right now, his score against the school girls stood at Bus Driver: 10, School Girls: 0. And he intended to keep it that way.

* * *

Ciel sat at an empty table in the library, reading a book with instructions on how to play shogi. From outside floated the sounds of a school playground at lunchtime, but inside the library was an oasis of peace and quiet.

Until Elizabeth threw herself into the chair opposite Ciel.

"Hey, Ciel. How are you?"

Ciel sighed. "Very well, thank you. How about you?"

"I'm well too, thanks." Elizabeth looked at the boy who had continued to read his book on something called shogi during the exchange.

"So… I was wondering," Elizabeth began, "if you were busy tomorrow."

Ciel glanced up from his book.

"Why?"

"Just wondering."

"If you want to drag me out again, then sorry, I've made plans already."

Elizabeth pouted. "Really? I wanted to take you shopping tomorrow…"

Sebastian, who had been looking for more shogi books for Ciel to read (he couldn't only focus on chess all the time; being the CEO of the Toy Division meant that he needed to broaden his gaming horizons), walked out from between the shelves in time to hear the end of their conversation.

"Hello, Elizabeth."

She smiled at him. "Hi, Sebastian."

"Do you want to take Ciel out shopping tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but he's busy already…"

Sebastian looked down at the boy, who had resumed his reading, and smiled.

"He's only busy until ten tomorrow morning, so you can always meet up afterwards."

Elizabeth, who had inwardly shuddered at Sebastian's creepy smile, grinned. "Really? So you can go shopping tomorrow, Ciel?"

Ciel tacked a pained smile onto his face. "Fine, I'll come."

"Great!" Elizabeth pulled out a diary and a pen, flipping the pages until she found the relevant day. "So… you wanna meet up at eleven at Pitt Street Mall?"

"That's fine, isn't it?" Sebastian said, looking meaningfully at Ciel, who had turned to scowl at him.

"Yes it is," Ciel ground out through his increasingly painful smile.

Elizabeth beamed at them and got to her feet, swinging her bag over her shoulder. "Then I'll see you tomorrow!" She walked out of the library, greeting the librarians on her way out.

Ciel glared at Sebastian. "Why did you have to tell her I was only busy in the morning for? I don't want to go shopping. I've got enough clothes at home!"

Sebastian smiled down at him. "Your mother knew that you'd be like this, so she told me to make sure you go out with Elizabeth when she asks you."

"What? Why? There's no point in going out with Elizabeth when her goal is only to change me! It's such a waste of time going shopping tomorrow!"

"But your mother thinks that you having friends other than the stupid trio and me are good for your development."

"Father makes all my clothes for me anyway, specially tailored and fitted to me in the particular style of the Victorian era fashion that I like. No one else can do that for me, especially since no one except dodgy costume shops make and supply generic Victorian style clothes anymore!"

"You can't always wear Victorian style clothes, you know. Even if you think they embody the essence of gentlemanliness and elegance. Besides," Sebastian continued with a smirk, "It's good for you to see the world instead of being in your own world all the time."

Ciel made a face at Sebastian. "I have a meeting tomorrow morning with the Family!" Ciel argued in a last ditch effort to get out of the shopping trip. "I don't know how long it'll take!"

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Stop arguing. The meeting won't take long, since we just sent Cubris out, so it'll be all statistics and troubleshooting tomorrow. So you're going."

Ciel shot one more glare at Sebastian before returning, scowling, to his book, his peace and quiet shattered with the looming shopping trip with a girl determined to mould him into a Someone.

* * *

The Starlight Foundation Ball was an annual event organised by the Midford Corporation to raise money for the Starlight Foundation, a charity organisation that helps extremely ill children and their families. Since it was organised by the Midford Corporation, everyone and anyone with consequence attended, glittering with gemstones and jewellery, wearing finery encompassing the colours of the rainbow.

As the guests arrived, Elizabeth's father and brother stood outside the door of the venue, bowing and greeting each guest individually.

"Ah, Charles," Alexis Midford would boom at one guest as he shook their hand, "How's your new restaurant going lately? I've been meaning to visit for a while now, but I've never managed to find time to go!"

Charles Derwent laughed. "I'm honoured just by your thoughts, Alex. Give me a call whenever you drop by and I'll prepare something special for you."

"That would be lovely. I won't keep you outside any longer, so I'll see you inside."

"Okay then, see you later."

Then the process of exchanging pleasantries would repeat with the next guest. His son, however, was getting a different kind of treatment.

"Welcome to the Starlight Foundation Ball, Mr. and Mrs. Hawke."

"Why thank you, Edward. My, how you've grown!" Mr. Hawke said as he shook Edward's hand.

Mrs. Hawke kissed his cheek. "You're growing into a fine young man, aren't you, Edward? It seems like only yesterday where we first saw you as a little boy at his first ball a few years ago!"

Edward would then blush, causing the guests to laugh at his embarrassment before moving into the function hall.

Once inside the hall, waiters roamed around with platters of canapés and drinks as the guests mingled and chattered. Elizabeth and her mother, Frances, was also roaming around the room, greeting everyone a second time, asking after their various businesses and projects, making sure everyone was at ease.

Josh, who had arrived with his father, ambled around, snagging drinks and food off the waiters until he saw Elizabeth free from talking to guests before walking up to her.

"Hey, Liz. I made it here in one piece without getting a single bruise from football training. Aren't you proud?"

Elizabeth, resplendent in a dusky pink floor length gown, turned and smiled at him. "Yes, I'm very proud of you." She hugged him in greeting. "But football? Don't you play soccer?"

Josh sighed, exasperated. "Calling football soccer just shows that you're a newb. Everyone knows that its proper name is football."

Elizabeth grinned. "Whatever. I'm glad you're here though."

"Of course I'll be here. I've always been here."

"Yeah whatever," Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes mockingly. "You just came for the free drinks, didn't you." It wasn't even a question.

"Hey," Josh protested jokingly. "Of course not! I'm here to learn about the world, as my dad says."

Elizabeth poked her tongue out at him, then glanced around nervously. "Is my mum around?"

Josh shook his head, having seen the Midford matriarch laughing with a group of women behind Elizabeth. "She's with the gossip circle."

"Phew. If she saw me do that, I'd totally be dead."

They both laughed at that. Everyone knew how strict Frances Midford could be.

"Where's your dad anyway?" Elizabeth looked around the hall. "I don't think I've said hi to him yet."

Josh shrugged. "He's somewhere in here, probably talking to the other Division representatives that came with him. Anyway," Josh continued. "How do you spell Funtomhive?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes again. "You'd think you'd know how to spell the name of the place where your dad works!"

Josh shook his head. "I keep trying to learn it, but it never sticks in my head!"

Elizabeth lightly tapped his head. "Seriously, the only things you actually know properly are like, fashion, because your dad's a designer, and soccer."

"It's football!"

"Yeah, yeah. You know, your dad's the main assistant to the Fashion Division Family, so you seriously need to learn how to spell Funtomhive. Your dad's in a high position! You need to uphold his honour and all that!"

Josh grimaced. "I got it! I'll try to learn it. Now can you spell it for me?" He smiled his most winning smile.

Elizabeth laughed. "You know that doesn't work on me, right? I've known you for too long."

"Just spell it!"

"Please."

"Please, Miss Elizabeth, could you please spell Funtomhive for me? With a Coke Spider on top?"

"Fine," Elizabeth said, trying to keep in her laughter, "It's F-U-N-T-O-M-H-I-V-E. Happy?"

Josh frowned. "I knew it…" Then he looked up to see Elizabeth gaping at him. "What's wrong, Liz?"

"You're thinking."

"Yeah? So?"

"I didn't know you could think about anything except soccer and fashion."

Josh punched Elizabeth on the arm. "Hey, I do think! And it's football!"

"Well," Elizabeth teased, "It's nice to know you have a brain in there somewhere. I was getting worried that your brain was made out of a football or something."

Josh grinned at her. "If it was, then I wouldn't be able to delight you with my charm and wit."

Laughing, Elizabeth turned to go, walking a few steps away before turning back.

"I nearly forgot to ask! Hey, Josh?"

"Hmm?" Josh looked up from the drink he had just taken from a waiter.

"Are you free tomorrow? I need your help shopping for Ciel."

"Yeah, of course! I always help you revamp your dolls' wardrobes anyway."

"True, that. Anyway, meet me ten-fifty tomorrow, the usual? We're meeting Ciel at eleven at Pitt Street Mall. And you won't believe what he usually wears. It's sooo cute and quaint!"

Josh raised an eyebrow. Cute and quaint?

"I look forward to seeing it."

Elizabeth smiled. "Thanks! Don't sleep in tomorrow like you did last year!"

"I won't!"

"I'll see you around tonight then," Elizabeth said, hugging him again before walking away. Josh smiled and ambled into the crowd. He wouldn't mind a closer look at this 'cute and quaint' doll.

It might also help answer some of his own questions.

* * *

"That concludes our Family meeting. Sebastian will send you the minutes later today. Good work everyone, and because I can't stay today, I'll see you again at next week's meeting."

To the rustling of paper, people began to file out of the room, discussing the meeting's contents, joking around. One person was even yawning and stretching as he made his way out. Finally, only Ciel and Sebastian was left in the conference room.

Ciel turned once more to Sebastian, opening his mouth to ask him a question, but Sebastian cut him off with a brusque 'no'.

"How did you know what I was going to ask?" Ciel frowned.

"Because you've been asking me the same question for the last day or so."

"Then, are you sure I have to go?"

Sebastian sighed. "I've told you no already. And if we keep dawdling, we're going to be late."

The younger boy suddenly found himself rushed out of the room and whisked down into the car-park and into a car.

Sebastian nodded to the driver, who didn't even bat an eyelid at their sudden appearance.

"Pitt Street Mall, please."

"Okay. Please fasten your seatbelts, we're going now."

Ciel fumbled with the seatbelt fastener until Sebastian did it up for him. Ciel looked away and grudgingly gave his thanks.

Sebastian smiled. "It's no problem, but you really need to learn how to do up your own seatbelt. I can't do it for you forever, you know. You're already fifteen. That's three years from adulthood."

Ciel ignored him, staring out of the window with his uncovered eye.

Sebastian sighed. Even though he didn't mind doing up Ciel's various buttons, laces, buckles and ribbons, he didn't particularly look forward to doing these things for Ciel for the rest of his life.

About to say something else, Sebastian noticed the thundering cloud that was Ciel's brow, and smiled, settling back down into his seat. No point in disturbing someone who was ranting in their minds about the unfairness of life and shopping trips, was there?

* * *

"Josh! Over here!"

Josh, looking around, spotted a blond girl waving at him from behind a pair of sunglasses, sitting on a bench next to a brunette holding a notepad and a pen.

"Liz!" He walked over and plonked himself on Elizabeth's other side. "Are you wearing the sunnies I designed for you last year for your birthday?"

Elizabeth grinned. "Of course! They're like, the comfiest pair of sunnies I've ever worn."

"That's good then." Josh winked at her. "Glad to know they're appreciated."

"I'm glad to see that you woke up in time. You woke up two hours after our meeting time last year!"

"That was last year! I was young and stupid, starting a _Lord of the Rings_ marathon after dinner. Now I'm older, smarter, wiser…"

Elizabeth snorted. "Oh really? At least you think you're smarter. I don't see any difference at all, except that you're growing taller."

Josh looked away and sniffed. "You're just jealous of my growth spurt, aren't you?"

"Of _course_. Now, you wanna head over to Pitt Street? He'll be here anytime soon."

"Yeah, 'kay."

"Let's go then. Paula, you ready?"

"Yes, Lizzie."

They walked towards the main entrance of Pitt Street Mall, lingering outside a shop window as they waited for Ciel to arrive.

As the clock in the clock tower of the nearby Town Hall chimed eleven, a black car slid to a smooth stop in front of the entrance. Elizabeth and Paula smiled at each other, having recognised Ciel's car. Josh, noticing their smiles, smiled too.

"So he's here, huh," Josh murmured quietly to Elizabeth.

"Yeah. That's his car. Prepare yourself for a surprise!"

Josh raised his eyebrows. So he was about to meet this guy's 'cute and quaint' side…

The back door facing away from the kerb swung open, allowing a tall, black-haired teenager out. He walked over to the other side of the car and opened the door for a shorter, raven-haired boy out of the car.

Not that Josh saw the colour of Ciel's hair, since it was being covered by a tall, navy top-hat with a gold ribbon tied into an oversized bow. Even more mind-boggling, Ciel emerged wearing a thin navy pinstripe double-breasted coat with large gold buttons and matching shorts.

Josh looked down. White knee socks, and… were they leather buckled shoes? With an actual wooden heel?

He glanced at Elizabeth, who was currently in raptures about his outfit.

"Is this…" Josh whispered into her ear, "What you meant by cute and quaint?"

"Yes!" Elizabeth whispered back excitedly. "Isn't it adorable?"

Josh nodded and straightened. It certainly was… quaint. Not sure about the cute bit. At least the boy could dress. Even if it was a few centuries too late.

Sebastian finished talking to the driver and the car silently sped off. Ciel, who had been facing slightly away from Josh, finally faced him properly.

Josh couldn't stop himself from staring, even though Elizabeth had told him not to.

Who couldn't stare at someone wearing an eye-patch? An actual, legit eye-patch that actually needed to be tied behind the head?

Next to him, Elizabeth smiled and walked over to the pair standing on the footpath.

Ciel nodded at her. "Hello, Elizabeth."

"Ciel! I'm so glad you could make it!" She hugged the boy, who had stiffened up at the sudden contact.

"Don't touch me so easily!" Ciel said loudly, struggling out of her embrace.

"Sorry!" Elizabeth laughed. "I forgot you didn't like to be touched."

She turned to Sebastian. "I'm glad you came too. Thanks for bringing Ciel along."

Sebastian smiled politely down at the shorter girl. "Of course. It was my pleasure."

Josh ran a critical eye over the older boy's outfit. Short sleeved white shirt, open at the collar, charcoal grey straight jeans and black Converses… It was acceptable. A bit strange, seeing Sebastian out of school uniform, but it looked good on him. And he could dress for the right era, unlike Ciel next to him…

Ciel, by this time, had caught sight of Josh.

"Why is he here too? I thought it'd only be you."

Elizabeth winked at him. "So you wanted to be alone with me?"

Ciel looked away, a vein throbbing at his temple. "No, but having only one person shopping for me would make the process shorter."

Elizabeth laughed and walked over to Josh, casually slinging an arm over his shoulders. "Even though I'm not too bad, Josh is more of an expert in men's fashion than I am, so I always enlist his help when I go shopping for guys."

Ciel raised an eyebrow, sceptical of Josh's unknown expertise. Elizabeth, letting go of Josh, caught the look.

"His dad's one of the Funtom Fashion Division's main assistants for the Fashion Family, and a renowned men's wear designer in his own right, so Josh's been surrounded by this stuff since birth. Hence his awesomeness at it."

Ciel nearly raised his other eyebrow at the news that Josh's father worked under his own father, who was the CEO of the Fashion Division. Instead, he slowly nodded, sighing. No chance of escaping now, what with three people making him shop, instead of just the two girls.

Then he caught Sebastian's gaze, and hastily changed his last thought. _I never _had_ a chance of escaping, with Sebastian here…_

Josh turned to Elizabeth. "I've been thinking of what Ciel should try, and here's what I think." A loud grumble issued from his direction. Josh laughed. "I'll tell you what I think over lunch."

Elizabeth stared at him. "It's just past eleven, and you want to have lunch already?"

"Err… yeah?" Josh rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "Come on, Liz. I'm starving! And eating lunch now'll let us go shop without needing to go feeding later."

Elizabeth nodded slowly. "True… We'll go eat first then." She turned to Ciel and Sebastian. "Is that okay with you?"

Sebastian nodded. Ciel huffed out a reluctant "Yes" at them.

"Okay then!" Elizabeth turned in a swirl of pale pink skirt and white sash. "Let's go food court!"

She marched into the shopping centre, Paula and Josh trailing behind her.

Ciel sighed and began to follow them. If he didn't, he'd get lost in this maze of glass, stores and escalators, and even though he was pretty sure Sebastian knew the way out of the shopping centre, Ciel wasn't entirely certain that Sebastian would help him get out of the place right now.

In fact, Ciel suspected that, if he really did get lost, Sebastian would give him the wrong directions just to see him suffer.

* * *

Josh and Elizabeth, who had, over lunch, been discussing and planning their 'strategic makeover', as Paula had labelled it in her notebook, smiled down at Ciel. He had sat a table over from them to delay his knowledge of what they were about to do to him for as long as possible, but he could not help hearing excerpts of their conversation, sending chills down his spine at the extent of their plans.

"So… you wanna start?" Josh and Elizabeth looked down at Ciel. Sebastian, sitting across from him, stood up.

"Come on, Ciel. Let's go." Sebastian smiled at Ciel.

Elizabeth and Josh shivered at the smile. Even after seeing so many times in the last hour as Sebastian made Ciel do something, it was still a really creepy smile… But if that was what made Ciel move, then they were willing to put up with the smile.

Ciel glared at Sebastian and stood up, putting on his top hat once more. Not noticing the stares from the other people in the food court (not that he ever did), he scowled at the pair who were currently beaming at him.

"You ready, Ciel?"

Ciel nodded reluctantly and followed the trio in front of him, who had begun to make their way out of the food court.

The group led Ciel and Sebastian up three escalators, down five corridors and around four corners. Or at least, Elizabeth and Paula led. Josh was nearly as lost as Ciel and Sebastian was.

_No wonder_, Ciel thought with amusement. _He doesn't need to get clothes, with his father working in the Funtom World. And he has no brain cells whatsoever, which doesn't help him in overcoming his directionally challenged being_.

Finally, they stopped in front of Funtom Boss. Ciel sighed. Even if the whole endeavour was stupid, at least his clothes would still contribute back to the Funtom World profits.

Now at their destination, Josh took over.

"So Ciel, go into a change room and we'll give you the clothes we want you to try on."

Ciel resignedly obeyed, signalling Sebastian to sneak into the change room with him to help him undo his various buttons and buckles.

Having helped Ciel undress down to his boxers, since Ciel couldn't even take off his shorts or socks without falling over, Sebastian sat in the corner of the change room, waiting for the various outfits to arrive. Laughing inwardly at Ciel's awkwardness standing in the middle of the mirror-lined chamber, Sebastian made a mental note to thank Ciel's father for planning in his stores change rooms large enough to park a car, or he would be sitting with his head in the vicinity of Ciel's boxers, which… would not be pleasant.

Meanwhile, outside the change rooms, Elizabeth and Josh, having gone over the whole store, was currently arguing over whether Ciel would look better in green or blue.

"Blue would match his eyes and hair!"

"But green gives more contrast without being too out there!"

"You're just saying that because you have green eyes, Liz!"

Paula, who had somehow convinced one of the salespeople to carry the mountain of clothes that they had amassed on their trek around the store, rolled her eyes and grabbed both shirts.

"He can try both, okay? Now let's get him trying stuff on!"

Laughing sheepishly, Elizabeth and Josh moved to the changing room area, where they set the clothes out on the two available loveseats and coffee table, sorting through the clothes until they had some sort of order.

"Okay," Josh said, standing up with a few of the clothes in his arms. "Ciel, when you try on each outfit, remember to come out to show us what you look like before going back in to change, okay?"

He thrust his arms, laden with the garments, into the change room and dropped them, hoping Ciel would catch them in time.

Elizabeth shouted from behind him, "Try on the green one first!"

Josh rolled his eyes and turned around to see Elizabeth had off-loaded the clothes of one loveseat onto the other so that she and Paula could sit down,

"He's going to look better in blue," Josh said, perching onto the arm of the loveseat.

Not long after, Ciel emerged from the change room bare-footed wearing an apple green polo shirt and white dress shorts.

Elizabeth, "You look so cute!"

Josh, "Not too bad, but the green's too sallow against his pale skin."

Paula, "Lighter green, maybe. Next!"

Ciel went back into the change room, soon emerging in an electric blue polo shirt and the same shorts.

Josh, "Much better! The blue in his hair and eyes come out with this blue."

Elizabeth, "Cute, but not as cute as the green one. It does make him look less sick though."

Paula, "Better than the green."

Ciel once again went back into the change room, where Sebastian was waiting to help him out of the clothes.

"Who invented these things?" Ciel grumbled as Sebastian lifted the shirt over his head. "They are so hard to put on! Not like shirts, which don't need me pulling stuff over my head."

Sebastian smirked as he neatly folded the two shirts and shorts. "They are very popular as casual wear amongst the wealthy, you know."

Ciel scowled. "I'm wealthy, extremely so, and you don't see _me_ wearing these things."

Sebastian handed Ciel the clothes, who exchanged them with the clothes Josh was holding.

Ciel spread out the clothes. "A white short sleeved shirt and six pairs of pants… Okay, I understand the navy, black and charcoal pants, but why are there pale pink, yellow and purple pants?" Ciel asked indignantly. "And they're denim pants! I never wear denim!"

Sebastian grinned for a fleeting moment before hiding it behind his customary smirk. "They don't care about that. The whole point is to help you get more modern clothes." Sebastian said patiently as he did the buttons of the plain but finely made shirt up.

"I know," Ciel said, "But denim is going too far. And it's weird seeing my arms outside," he continued, inspecting his arms, so pale that they were practically glowing under the change room's lights.

Despite his protests, Ciel obediently paraded every outfit, every article of clothing, in front of the trio sitting outside, including a dozen more pairs of jeans in every colour imaginable. Elizabeth had somehow even sneaked in a pair of ripped skinny jeans, which had actually looked quite good on the skinny boy, but Ciel's vein was throbbing so hard at his temple it looked like it was about to burst when he wore it.

He also modelled dozens of long sleeved and short sleeved shirts of every colour, pattern and print imaginable, along with dress pants of different lengths and colours, numerous blazers, coats, leather jackets, ties, scarves, cravats. Once each individual item had been tried on, the ones that Ciel had looked better in were kept for the next stage, which involved mix and matching these chosen items into various outfits. The best outfits Elizabeth took Polaroids of, keeping them on the side as reference.

Finally, after hours in the change rooms, hundreds of outfits, and hundreds of thousands of comments from the three spectators, Ciel was allowed to emerge, exhausted, from behind the curtain wearing his own clothes.

The first thing he saw was a large rack of clothes standing next to the group facing him. The second was the smaller, but still generous, pile of clothing lying next to the rack.

Josh scooped up the pile of clothes easily. "This is what we're taking, right?" He glanced at Elizabeth, who nodded in confirmation.

From the depths of the pile, Ciel thought he saw a flash of pale yellow denim.

"Can I see what we're getting?" Ciel walked over to Josh casually, trying to see if they had actually included the pale yellow jeans within that pile.

Josh blocked the smaller boy. "Na-ah, you'll see when you go home. You can't chuck these either; we're going to come over after this to sort through your wardrobe!"

Elizabeth and Paula followed Josh to the cashier to pay for the clothes. Sebastian, having come out of the change room, joined Ciel by the door of the store.

Ciel glanced at him tiredly. "How come you're not tired after doing all those buttons and zips?"

Sebastian smiled down at Ciel. "I've had practise doing your buttons for all these years; my fingers have become strong because of it. When you've done what I've done, you wouldn't be tired either, Ciel."

Ciel tried to reply, but was swept up by the other three, holding four bags of clothing.

"You managed to fit all that into four bags?" Ciel stared at them in shock.

"Of course! It just looked like a lot because it wasn't folded properly!" Elizabeth said. Ciel sighed. Weren't they tired after hours of analysing someone's clothes?

He looked over at Elizabeth and Josh, who was currently pouring over Paula's notebook to see her notes. They looked as fresh faced as they did when they met up.

Ciel sighed again, before they rushed over to him, having given Sebastian the bags of clothes to carry.

"We're going to get you shoes next," they chorused together as they led him through another long route through the shopping centre to their next destination, where rows and rows of shoes and shoeboxes lined the walls and shelves of the store.

Ciel's first impression of the place was Ollivander's Wand shop in _Harry Potter_, so shoe-box laden was the store. His second was disbelief at just how many styles of shoe people tried on, unlike his own dedication to the same style since childhood. His third?

Growing horror.

_They're not going to get me try _every single style_ in this place, are they?_

Elizabeth and Josh, who had been talking to the shopkeeper, came back around and sat Ciel down onto a low lounge thing.

"Take of your shoes, and then try on all the ones we give you. We'll be back soon!"

And off they went, trawling through the men's section to find shoes for Ciel to wear.

Sebastian was already undoing the buckles on Ciel's shoes.

"You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?" Ciel accused Sebastian with a pointed finger.

Sebastian smiled at him rather too happily as he said, "I'm merely following what your mother told me to do, Ciel."

By this time, Elizabeth and Josh had already amassed a fair amount of boxes. They set them down next to Ciel's feet, laying out pairs of similar styles out in front of him.

"Now," four people beamed up at him. "Please start trying on these loafers now."

Ciel looked at them and sighed in relief. At least these didn't need to be laced; he could wear these by himself.

After going through the ten or so pairs, and picking out a pair in black leather and a pair in chocolate brown, both plain, they began to set out a different type of shoe.

Ciel stared. What were these shoes? With their white rubber soles and toe-cap, and white laces going up the shoe? Their many-coloured canvas sides? The 'All Star' symbol stitched to the side of the shoe?

Why was there a star on the shoe in the first place?

Elizabeth picked up a white pair and held them up to him.

"Here, try these on for size. Converses sometimes have weird sizes, so try them on and see how they fit."

So these were Converses, huh. Funny looking things…

Then Ciel noticed Sebastian was wearing a pair and sighed. If Sebastian was wearing them, they wouldn't be too bad, right?

The laces already loosened, he tugged them on, waiting for Sebastian to finish tying up his shoes for him.

Watching Josh gape at the sight, Paula whispered to the footballer, "Yeah, tying his shoelaces is another thing we need to teach him."

Elizabeth looked at Ciel's feet critically. "Go like, walk around or something. Are they comfortable?"

Ciel slowly got to his feet and walked two steps. "They're good enough."

Elizabeth beamed. "Sweet! Hi-top Converses are so cute! You're like, getting all of these. Everybody needs them, and like, the more colours the better."

Ciel ran an apprehensive eye over the colours of the _Converses_ in front of him. White, black, red, blue, purple, green… and was that a silver pair he saw on the end?

He sighed. At lease the shoes they are making him wear were comfortable.

Then Josh pulled out a pair of giant, multi-coloured, fluoro pair of monsters.

"Try these on next! They're like, all the rage right now, more with guys than girls though. They give you heaps of street cred, and they look good with almost anything."

"W-w-what are they?" Ciel stuttered with horror.

"Haven't you seen these before? They're Nike Airs. Well, based off them anyway. These are cooler though."

Ciel hated them on the spot. Oversized, flashy, tacky, stupid. Who had destroyed the streamline elegance that existed in footwear for hundreds of years, epitomised in the Victorian shoe, to create these monsters?

He still tried them on anyway. Josh and Elizabeth looked on.

"He could like, totally pull of that bad-ass look, with the eye-patch and everything, but then we'll have to like, create an entirely new wardrobe for him."

"Yeah, true, since we did kinda focus on preppy for him because he likes that stuff."

"Maybe like, later in the year?"

"Totally. Hahaha, he looks like he's in pain wearing those."

"Whatever. It's not like we're getting them. At least he liked the Chucks."

"Yeah. That's the last pair, yeah?"

"Mmhmm." Elizabeth raised her voice slightly. "Hey, Ciel? We're done now. You can like, take them off now. Don't worry, we're not getting them for you."

They laughed quietly at the relief that flooded the raven-haired boy's face as he sat down to take them off.

"So…" Elizabeth turned around to face the shopkeeper. "We'll take these nine pairs, please."

"No problem." The shop assistant began to pack the shoes away into bags as Elizabeth settled the transaction.

"Thank you!" Josh took the bags from the shop assistant.

The shopkeeper smiled. "Thank _you_. Come again next time!"

Elizabeth smiled back. "Will do. See you next time!"

The three walked out of the store, where Ciel was waiting for them with Sebastian.

"Can we go now?" Ciel asked them plaintively.

The three smiled at him, a gleam in their eye. Ciel gulped. Sebastian laughed inwardly behind him.

"We've finished shopping now, so yes, you can go, but do you mind if we come over and take a look at your wardrobe? We'll leave before seven, don't worry."

Ciel sighed. What was wrong with these people?

"What time is it?" He asked Sebastian resignedly.

Sebastian checked his watch. "Ten to five."

Ciel sighed again. "Fine, you can come over."

But the three had already walked away, towards the exit. Ciel sighed once more, forcing his wearied feet to follow them.

Sebastian, sauntering easily behind Ciel, bent down to talk to Ciel.

"The car's already here waiting."

Ciel gave a curt nod, hurrying to catch up to the other group. It wouldn't be at all amusing to get lost now, after successfully spending half his day in here with them doing pointless things.

* * *

Elizabeth and Josh hardly glanced at the rest of Ciel's bedroom as they made a beeline to his wardrobe. Paula, trailing slightly behind, looked around and smiled. The room was furnished simply but luxuriously, with the furnishings and colours of a Victorian style bedroom.

_He really is a fan of the Victorian era_, Paula giggled secretly. She wrote it down in her notebook. _And so neat! _

Her thought process was interrupted when Josh flung open the walk-in wardrobe doors, revealing racks and racks of nineteenth century clothing.

One rack was filled with coats and capes of all lengths and styles, while another was bursting with shorts of different styles. A third had different types of shirts, where a chest of drawers revealed ribbons, bows, ties and socks. He even had stockings and garters in a drawer. Perched on their own stand were top hats, lining the floor were different pairs of shoes, all shiny and new, all with a high wooden heel.

Elizabeth and Josh stared in wonder.

"It's like walking into a costume shop," Elizabeth breathed.

"Except these clothes have been slightly modified to Ciel's taste," Josh remarked quietly. "They're not exactly like Victorian style clothes. For one thing, these're lot more bow-y and cute."

"I told you he was cute and quaint!" Elizabeth nudged Josh with one elbow.

Josh walked over to a rack, inspecting the stitching on the thick woollen coat he was holding.

"I thought so… This is the stitching only found in Funtomhive clothing. He's related to them!"

Elizabeth walked over to Josh. "What are you muttering about?"

Josh whirled around and laughed. "Nothing. Just that these are made so wonderfully awesome, that we can't chuck these! It'll be a crime if we do! We'll just somehow incorporate his new clothes into his wardrobe."

Ciel felt a swell of pride for his father's skill and handiwork.

Elizabeth, nodding, joined Josh to look over the clothes together.

"They're actually okay if you wear them separately with modern stuff," Josh remarked.

"Yeah, totally." Elizabeth nodded thoughtfully, "It's just that he's like, wearing this from top to toe, so it's like, totally overwhelming."

They turned to Ciel as one. "Ciel, from now on," Elizabeth declared, "You can still wear what you have…"

He could still wear his beloved clothes? Ciel felt like hugging her, he was that excited.

"…but you can only wear one thing from here at a time, and the rest needs to be from the clothes we bought you today."

Ciel scowled and retracted his earlier sentiment.

Josh continued. "You can't wear your shoes, or your stockings and garters. You can wear socks, but not your knee highs. Wear your school socks instead.

"Also, no more of these hats unless you're at a costume party!"

Sebastian put his hand on Ciel's head and forced it up and down in a nod.

At this point, they were interrupted by Elizabeth's shriek of excitement from the depths of the wardrobe.

"OH MY GOSH! CIEL! WHY DO YOU HAVE SUCH CUTE THINGS?"

Ciel blanched. No way. He'd hidden it so well, she couldn't have found it…

Elizabeth ran out of the wardrobe holding a pale pink dress, complete with roses and black ribbon accents in her arms. And balanced on top of the dress was a matching hat with a brimful of roses and a black, pig-tailed wig.

Josh and Paula stared. "Where did you find it?" Paula asked in wonderment.

"It was fully hidden behind the coats, right up against the wall, but I saw like, a glimmer of pink from behind it so went and looked for the pink and found this amazing dress!"

She turned to Ciel, who had gone pale. "Why do you have this?"

The occupants of the room could practically see lines covering Ciel's forehead.

"It was for a charity play last year for my father's company. They couldn't find a suitable girl to play the main character, so they made me do it. And my father forbade me from throwing away his 'amazing creation', which is why I still have it."

Elizabeth gazed at the dress in raptures. "It's adorable! The pink rose and striped bow keeping the white, ruffled off-the-shoulder neckline centred, the matching white, ruffled petticoats showing underneath the gathered pink skirt, the bow at the back, the black ribbons linking and tying everything together… and the hat! The roses at the brim are too cute! The white bow seemingly keeping the roses attached to the hat! And there's black silk gloves too! All the way up your arms! You've even got a wig!"

Josh and Paula looked at Elizabeth in amusement, used to her extravagant descriptions of all things cute.

Elizabeth turned to Ciel and dumped the entire outfit into his arms. "You have to try this on for me! I want to see you in it!"

Ciel looked at the anticipatory gazes around him, and sighed, trudging into his wardrobe.

Sebastian, who had guessed that Elizabeth would make Ciel wear the dress, was already waiting in the wardrobe to help Ciel change.

"You really are having too much fun doing this, Sebastian." Ciel glared at the older boy as Sebastian helped him into the dress, falling gracefully over the layers of petticoats underneath.

"And you haven't grown since last year, Ciel. It still fits you as well as it did last year," Sebastian said, lacing the dress up at the front and pulling the dress tight at the back with the bow.

Ciel didn't reply. He needed all his concentration to walk properly in the black heels that prevented the hem of the dress from dragging on the floor.

Sebastian centred the wig and pinned the hat in place.

"All done, Ciel. Go let them see you.

Ciel signed, before straightening his posture and gliding out of the doors of his wardrobe.

Sebastian, who had stayed behind to help Ciel get out of the costume, smirked when he heard the squeals and cheers coming from outside, and the occasional shout from Ciel going, "Don't take photos of me without me knowing!"

* * *

Josh, Elizabeth and Paula, still holding her ever-present _Ciel_ notebook, stood at the door.

"Bye, Ciel. Thanks for shopping with us!" Elizabeth said with a smile.

_You forced me to come shopping. And it was more shopping for me, not shopping with you_, Ciel thought.

"Thanks for letting us come over too!" Josh said with a cheery grin.

Ciel scowled. _You gang-pressed me into letting you come over._

Paula added, "You looked wonderful in that dress. Thanks for letting us see you in it."

_You would've forced the dress on me anyway,_ Ciel grumbled silently,_ so of course I'd choose to put it on myself_.

Elizabeth and Josh turned to Sebastian. "Make sure he doesn't waste our efforts, okay?"

Sebastian nodded with a polite smile.

"See you at school on Monday," he replied, "And get home safely."

"We will," they chimed, "See you Monday!"

Sebastian stepped on Ciel's foot. "See you next time," Ciel added grudgingly.

Waving, the three of them got into Elizabeth's waiting car and sped off. Sebastian looked at Ciel.

"I'm expected at home for dinner tonight, so I'll see you tomorrow, Ciel."

"Goodnight then, Sebastian." Ciel watched his companion disappear into the twilight.

He turned, locking the door behind him, and made his way to the dining room and dropped into his chair with a sigh.

"Ciel, what's wrong?" Ciel's father asked concernedly.

"I'm just tired, that's all." Ciel smiled at his father tiredly. "They dragged me all over the shopping centre today! And made me try on thousands of outfits and clothes and shoes and it was horrible. And they didn't listen to me when I told them I was happy with my clothes now. No one makes clothes like you, Father." He nodded his thanks at the maid who had just set his meal in front of him.

The older man smiled. "That's alright. Changing your look helps you get fresh perspectives on things."

Ciel began to eat. "I know," he said between bites. "You've told me. But I still think the clothes you made for me are the best. At least they shopped at Funtom Boss, so I'm still wearing your designs anyway."

"You're always endorsing my work, Ciel." His father reached over and ruffled his son's hair. "Thank you."

Ciel smiled at his father, then looked around. "Where's Mother?"

"She said she was busy with a deadline coming up or something, so she probably won't be back for a while. I'll be here for the next week though; we just finished our new collection."

"Really? Congratulations, Father. I think I need to start thinking about our new product soon too…"

Ciel's father smiled at his son. "You've been working hard lately, so don't think about it for the next few days, okay?"

"Okay, Father."

"So, Ciel," Ciel looked up at his father. "Tell me about your day."

* * *

Elizabeth emerged from her bathroom and flopped onto her bed.

"Today was so fun! And I got to see Ciel in a pink dress!"

Paula, who had been straightening Elizabeth's books, laughed. "It was fun today, wasn't it?"

Elizabeth turned to Paula with a grin. "I don't know enough about him though. I mean, I need to like, know him well enough to know random things about him, like him cross-dressing for a play for his father's company. You know?"

Paula nodded, sitting down on a random cushion. "You should start doing the visiting thing soon."

Elizabeth smiled. "I was going to start next week. Since I have Pilates on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the week, I was thinking of visiting him after school on the other days from three to six-forty-five, right after school finishes to just before dinner time. I mean, he doesn't live too far away, so fifteen minutes should be enough time to get home for dinner, right?"

Paula smiled. "Definitely. I'll tell the others just in case you get delayed then."

"Thanks, Paula." Elizabeth grinned at her maid before rolling over and hugging her pillow in excitement. She couldn't wait until Monday came so she could put her plan into practice.

* * *

**So... Ciel and Sebastian, shopping for clothes. Sebastian in jeans and Converses O_O CIEL IN HIS PINK DRESS! I couldn't resist adding that into the chappie XD**

Also... it's late again, but because of that it's more than 9000 words long! :O I mean, it was late already, so might as well delay it a bit more and write/edit it more, right? ;D

**To the people complaining about the too long A/Ns, I'm sorry I'll stop rambling so much **

**You reviewers make my day though: **Yuki Minamoto, Dream Glaze, Soul-Jazz, blottyparchment, colbub, Miaicegirl**. You deserve food! And since you must be sick from all the cyber cookies floating around in FFN, I'll give you... CYBER SCONES WITH JAM AND CREAM! XD Favouriters/Story-Alerters, you guys rock too :D So you get cyber scones+jam+cream too ^^**

**And, **Miaicegirl**, you've reviewed every single chappie thus far! You're awesome! And thus you get one of Sebby's special afternoon teas with your scones, complete with cake and fancy teacup :)**

**Until next time!  
et-r**


	6. Interlude: The History of CrossDressing

**Interlude: The History of Cross-Dressing**

* * *

Not many people remember much from their toddler days. In fact, not many people remember much from their early primary school days.

Ciel was no different. Except for one particular, life-defining moment that will forever be etched into his memory, even if he was so young he could barely walk at the time…

_The small navy-haired toddler gazed around at the gathering of adults wonderingly, tiny hand clutching at his mother's skirt for support. _

_Ciel's mouth gaped open as he tried to see the faces peering down at him with adoring looks._

"_He's so cute, Rachel!" One aunt gushed at Ciel's mother. "How old is he again?"_

"_He just turned one last month." Rachel Phantomhive picked up Ciel and held him tenderly. _

_She cooed at her son, rubbing her nose gently with his. "Didn't you, Ciel?"_

_The boy burbled with laughter. The surrounding adults gave a collective 'aww' at the sound._

"_He really is too cute!" Another aunt said, playing with Ciel's fingers._

_A third aunt sighed. "He's so much cuter and prettier than my daughter. Isn't he, dear?" She called to her husband._

_Her husband, who was standing with the other men slightly apart from the women, turned around. "What?"_

"_I said, isn't Ciel prettier than Millie?"_

_The husband protested half-heartedly. "Millie's a year older than Ciel! You can't compare them like that!"_

"_But it's true… I can see it already." She turned to Ciel's father._

"_Vincent, do you still have some of those dresses you made for Millie last year? I want to see Ciel in a dress."_

And with those words, Ciel's fate as a cross-dresser was decided. And the next thing Ciel could remember was him wearing a lime green dress while all the adults, depending on their personality, gawked or gushed at Ciel's appearance.

"_So cute! Your little boy should've been born a girl!" One uncle said to Vincent, punching him friendlily on the shoulder._

"_I knew it! Ciel's prettier than Millie!" That particular aunt began to rant about her daughter's unattractiveness and amazing intelligence alternately until everyone was confused about her true thoughts on her daughter._

"_Ciel's so adorable! Cute as a boy, cute as a girl…" Rachel smoothed her son's hair gently as Vincent wrapped his arm around his wife. Both gazed down in wonderment at their son, who was frowning in puzzlement at everyone, still wearing the bright green dress._

"_I now have someone to model both the boy and the girl sides of my collections now! And it's my adorable Ciel!"_

_A thought crossed Rachel's mind; she turned to her husband worriedly. "Will this impact on Ciel's development though?"_

_Husband and wife creased their brows in unison as they thought about it before turning to each other simultaneously with a smile._

"_It shouldn't be a problem," Vincent said._

"_After all," Rachel continued, "Ciel is our son. This'll help his development and give him new perspectives on life."_

"_It'll contribute to his maturity."_

"_It'll add to his sensibilities."_

_Husband and wife shared a smile before once again looking at the beaming Ciel, who had sat down and was now playing with the hem of the dress._

From then on, with every opportunity that was available, from family gatherings to modelling his father's outfits, Ciel was dressed up as a girl, to the satisfaction of the whole Phantomhive family.

The year he turned two, which was also the year he was introduced to the then three-year-old Sebastian, Ciel played the part of an angel in his church's nativity play. Dressed in a white smock with intricate gold embroidery at the hem and all over the cap sleeves, complete with feathered wings that Ciel could barely support and a pale yellow translucent halo, Ciel out-angel-ed everyone else, to the pride of his parents and to the amazement of everyone else.

That same year, at the Phantomhive Christmas party, Ciel's father buttoned Ciel up in a certain costume that was part of the Funtomhive Fashion Division's new children's costume range…

_Ciel clutched his Santa's hat as he tried to catch up to Sebastian on his chubby legs. Most of the other children had drifted into the garden to play Hide-and-Seek, but Ciel's parents had told him to stay inside with them and keep Sebastian company._

_But Sebastian wasn't letting Ciel keep him company, walking around the room to explore and look at everything. Ciel could barely keep up with the older boy, running behind Sebastian barefoot, his green cloth elf's shoes forgotten in a corner._

_The adults laughed at the sight. "Ciel's so small compared to Sebastian!"_

"_You can't help that though. He is younger by a year, and the youngest Phantomhive kid right now."_

"_Has he become a 'terrible two' yet, Vincent? Rachel?"_

_Ciel's parents smiled fondly at their son. "No, he's been wonderful. Listens to everything we say. He doesn't even complain about dressing up as a girl!"_

"_Love how you've dressed Ciel and Sebastian in matching clothes though, Vince. Even if Sebastian's wearing the boy version of Ciel's elf costume."_

"_And I'm loving those buttons on Ciel's dress. They're so quaint! Please make me one for Millie next year?"_

_Vincent laughed. "Of course! The new and improved version will be delivered to your door next week and you can keep it for her next year."_

"_Thanks, Vincent." Millie's mother glanced at Ciel's cherry red bubble dress, matching Sebastian's vest and contrasting with the latter's leaf green balloon shorts._

"_What are you going to do when they grow up?"_

"_I don't know. I can't make Sebastian and Ciel wear my clothes all the time, but I hope that they will. And I hope that Ciel'll never get sick of or get embarrassed by my dressing him up in girl's clothes."_

As Vincent hoped, Ciel never grew tired of or embarrassed from cross-dressing. His reasoning? They were only clothes, and clothes were only coverings for your body. Who cared if they were for a different gender, or if they looked different to everyone else's? As long as he felt comfortable in them, Ciel didn't mind what they were.

When he entered primary school, more cross-dressing opportunities arose from the annual plays organised by each grade at the end of the year as part of the school program. The school reasoned that acting helped people open up to the world, and so everyone had to act a part in their grade play, even if their role was only to stand at the back dressed as a flower.

Only… Ciel could not act. Even if he was playing a flower. In his kindergarten year, while all the other children playing flowers, swaying and bending in the 'breeze', Ciel was so stiff swaying that he looked like a robot being rocked from side to side by someone else.

The teacher, in despair, put Ciel into a role where he was not required to do anything at all – the role of the female main character's friend, who only needs to follow the main character around and then sit on the side, looking pretty.

Since it was a girl's role that Ciel was actually good at (since he did not need to do anything except look pretty), Vincent made his son a dress so innocent and cute, a dress of pale yellow with a skirt of 'flower petals', that on the actual day of the play, people were looking at the friend of the main character instead of the actual lead, wondering who this 'pretty little girl with the long navy hair' was.

When told that it was played by a little boy called Ciel Phantomhive, no one believed that such a pretty girl could ever be a boy, and so Ciel's girl cousin 'Siella' was born.

In Year One, the teacher put Ciel into the role of the maid to the main family, learning from experience that Ciel needed non-acting roles. Ciel's costume for that year was stereotypical of the classic maid, with the black dress, white collar and white apron, but Vincent's version used black brocade and bead embroidery on the main dress, a taffeta collar and apron, and elaborate lace petticoats with a matching lace headband. At the performance, 'Siella' stole the show once again.

After that, the organising teacher put Ciel into a role in the main cast that did not need to talk, walk, act, only needing sitting and standing, or on occasions eating. After all, it would not be acceptable for a supporting, extremely minor role to steal the show, would it?

A quick run through Ciel's remaining primary school plays reveal a plethora of roles, including two princesses, one a classic fairy-tale princess, the other an Egyptian princess and a Victorian-style porcelain doll in a toy store (which also happened to start Ciel's obsession with Victorian style clothes).

A fairy with gossamer wings and a softly swirling green chiffon dress was also added to his repertoire of roles, and for his last primary school play, the Greek goddess of hunting, Artemis, with a one-shouldered, draping cream silk tunic, brown leather belt and matching leather armguards, headband and soft ankle boots. To complete the outfit, and also because it was Ciel's last school play, Vincent even included a bow and a sheath of arrows, with actual (blunted) metal tips to strap onto Ciel's back.

The graduation of Ciel from primary school saw the graduation of 'Siella', the now-legendary beauty in the grade. 'Siella' was so legendary, in fact, and made so many boys' heart start beating, that almost all the students and teachers in the school had actually forgotten that 'Siella' was the product of Ciel cross-dressing.

The only exception to this phenomenon was the teacher who had created 'Siella' in the first place, because the atrocity that was Ciel's acting was too strongly branded into her memories to allow her to replace those memories with 'Siella'…

After his primary school graduation, Ciel began to wear his eye-patch for his newly discovered lazy eye. Vincent, thrown into a panic about the eye-patch, caused him to create a new wig with a long side fringe to cover the eye-patch in question.

The graduation of Ciel also saw Ciel begin to actively creating a Victorian-style wardrobe, a job he had limited previously to a few structured jackets and shorts, delighting his father with the new job of creating for his son an entirely new and unique wardrobe.

Ciel entering high school saw him and Sebastian established as the 'loner nerds' of their year, not that Ciel realised or cared, as well as Ciel's induction into the Funtomhive world as the CEO for the Toy Division, something Ciel himself had thought of himself. The promise that Ciel and Sebastian displayed delighted his grandfather, the Funtom head, and swelled the pride of his parents once more.

For a few years, with no mention of any roles for him to act (since any roles in the annual Funtom play was played by Funtom members who could actually act), and with no occasion to dress as a girl, Ciel thought that his cross-dressing days were over. Until they announced that the Funtom play was short one actor, thrusting Ciel once more into the spotlight as a courtier in the court of the King and Queen in the play.

Jumping at the chance to dress Ciel up once more, Vincent created the most elaborate costume for his son ever, a pale pink off-shoulder dress with white petticoats and black ribbon accents, a large bow at the back, and a matching hat with a brimful of roses that tied with the rose at the centre of the bodice.

Sufficient to say, without actually doing anything except sitting and standing and curtsey-ing, Ciel stole the show once again.

* * *

**Hey peoples~**

**How was that? I got the idea after the shopping trip last chappie when Lizzie forced him into The Dress ;) I mean, why only put Ciel into one dress only? ;DD**

**Anyways... I was actually going to finish writing this on the plane (because I'm in HONG KONG RIGHT NOW which is awesome 3) and it takes nine hours to fly from Sydney to Hong Kong, which is plenty to finish writing a short little look into certain aspects of the background story :D but I didn't because I get airsick... I thought I was cured but turns out I'm not :( which sucks. Anyway, after that I have had no opportunies to write this until now because of relatives going 'OMGSH YOU'RE HERE~~ LET'S GO OUT!' and because of b'day celebrations (I'M FINALLY 18! WHOOO FOR BECOMING LEGIT XD) so yeah...**

**Thanks to **colbub, Ashley Antwolf, Miaicegirl, KiDGE, Yuki Minamoto, Circus 0900, Dream Glaze, Soul-Jazz, addicted1357 **for reviewing! You guys are awesome! As are all you alerters/favouriters :DD Here's a cyber egg-tart (delicacy in HK if you've never heard of one - they are the best! Especially the ones with the shortbread-like crust, which is my favourite type) and for you brave souls, a side serving of cyber stinky tofu (also a delicacy... you can smell their stench from two blocks away... I've never tried them, but according to my dad they're really good).**

**Hope you enjoyed that, and stay cool!**

**Until next time,**

**et-r**


	7. Stage Six: Studying

**Stage Six: Studying**

* * *

"Go, Josh, go! Shoot it now!"

Josh ran forwards, blocking the opponent with his body from stealing the dribbling ball in his hands. One step, one shoot, and the basketball glided smoothly through the hoop.

"Way to go, Josh!"

His teammates clapped him on his back with camaraderie. Onlookers cheered.

"You think you've won already, huh?" Elizabeth shouted from the other team. "We're going to get that point back from you, and win this thing!" Now it was her teammates who cheered, her supporters who cheered.

Josh stuck his tongue out at her. "As if!"

A shrill whistle cut through the air. Everybody turned to look at the exasperated teacher standing on the side, whistle hanging from her neck, clipboard dangling, half-forgotten, off her arm.

"This is a P.E. lesson, kids! Stop acting like this is some big game!"

"Yes, miss!" Everyone chorused obediently.

"Good. Now start again."

The whistle beeped again, and the people on the courts began to chase after the orange ball once again.

The teacher was glancing around at the court to check on the others' behaviour, when she noticed two people standing on the side all by themselves.

"Ciel! Sebastian!" The two looked over. "Have you played yet today?"

Ciel stepped forward and pointed at a note slid into the back of her clipboard.

"I've already given you the note that says I can't play today due to an ankle sprain, Miss."

"Oh." She took the paper out and glanced over it. As she did, Sebastian muttered at Ciel.

"You just don't want to make a fool of yourself like you did last time we played basketball for P.E., right, Ciel?"

Ciel glared at Sebastian. "As if I would run away like that."

Sebastian smirked, then straightened as the teacher re-folded the note and put it back into her folder.

"I hope your ankle gets better, Ciel. For the next few weeks, just sit down and rest during our P.E. lessons, okay? I don't want you to make it worse." Ciel shot Sebastian a triumphant look once she looked away from him to Sebastian. "How about you, Sebastian? You haven't given me any note, have you?"

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at Ciel before replying to the teacher. "No, Miss. I haven't played nor have I given you a note."

"Then I'll expect you to play next time I replace someone." The teacher turned around and winced. "In fact, you can replace those three over there right now. I'm sure that you'll do a better job playing as one person as they do with three people."

She raised her voice. "Mey-rin! Bard! Finny! Come off and let Sebastian play now!"

"But why?" Bard growled. "I like playing."

Finny and Mey-rin nodded fervently. "Me too!"

The teacher smiled as tolerantly as she could. "Unfortunately, we can only use one court today, and so we need to take turns playing. Since Sebastian hasn't played yet today, I think it should be his turn to play now, and so I'm replacing him with you three."

Bard, Finny and Mey-rin's jaws dropped in understanding. "I understand, Miss! We'll let Sebastian take our places!"

"Good. Now," she turned to Sebastian, "Go and play until the end of the lesson, okay?"

"Yes, Miss." Sebastian strolled onto the court, where he was immediately swallowed by the melee that had formed under the nearest hoop. A few moments later, Sebastian leaped up and slam dunked the ball into the hoop.

"Yes! Now it's even again, Josh!"

Josh didn't reply to Elizabeth's triumphant yell, instead choosing to sneakily steal the ball of her. Half of the class groaned, Mey-rin, Bard and Finny included.

"Someone get the ball now!" Finny cried. "There's an opening!"

"I wish I was playing! Then I'd definitely be able to steal the ball back!" Mey-rin vowed with determination. Ciel, who was sitting behind them, leaning on the fence, swore that flames were leaping out from her eyes.

Bard scowled and crossed his arms. "If only we had more courts, then we could all play."

Ciel sighed. "The teacher still wouldn't let you play then, you know."

The three turned around and looked at him in bewilderment. "Why wouldn't we be able to play, then?" They crowded around Ciel, looking down at him with sparkles and puppy-dog looks.

Ciel felt like he was being tormented by three giant puppies standing over him.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ciel crossed his arms in a futile attempt to make himself feel more protected from the over-grown dogs in front of him. "Mey-rin, you trip over even when you're running forwards, which is dangerous for everyone else on the court. Bard, you knock over people and nearly tackle people just to get the ball, which is dangerous for everyone else on the court. Finny, you throw the ball so hard that it always dents the ground or the backboard, which is dangerous for everyone else on the court. Need I say more?"

Mey-rin frowned. "So you're saying we're just dangerous for everyone else on the court?"

Ciel smirked. "Besides, the team's getting more points now that you're gone and Sebastian's on."

Indeed, Sebastian's team was now six points ahead of Josh's team, since Sebastian had shot two three-pointers in succession. Everyone gave him looks of awe, too afraid of that 'creepy teacher's pet' to congratulate him. Sebastian ignored them all, only looking occasionally at Ciel watching the game and smirking, as if to say, 'Look at how good I am at basketball, when you can't even hold the ball without dropping it'.

After the fifth such glance, Ciel began to permanently death-glare at Sebastian in an attempt to make him fumble the ball. However, as opposed to Ciel's wishes, Sebastian seemed to play even better after Ciel began to glare…

While Ciel was chanting for Sebastian to drop the ball within his head, the stupid trio were still discussing their dismissal from the game.

"Well, as long as Elizabeth's team's winning, I guess…" Bard said doubtfully.

"We obviously can't help her," Mey-rin said sadly, "Since what Ciel said was true…"

Finny pouted. "It's not our fault we're like that! I mean, we've gotten much better now! So one day, we'll be able to play basketball with them, definitely!"

All three of them looked at each other and grinned.

"Anyway," Finny continued, now glancing at the still curse-glaring Ciel, "Don't you wanna find out how the doll thing's going?"

Mey-rin and Bard's eyes began to shine. "Yes! Why didn't we think of this earlier? It's been more than two weeks since school started and Ciel became and doll and everything!"

They rushed over to Ciel and crowded over him once more, cutting off his death-glared and overwhelming him once more with their general shiny-ness and enthusiasm.

"Ciel! How's life as a doll going?"

"Ciel! Has Lizzie dragged you to do anything yet?"

"Ciel! Is Lizzie as nice as she seems in real life?"

"Ciel! Can you feel yourself changing from Lizzie's influence yet?"

"Ciel! How do Lizzie's hands feel like? Are they as smooth as they seem?"

Ciel looked up at them in a sea of confusion at their bombardment of incoherent and loud questions at him, especially at the last question he heard relatively clearly, which had something to do with Elizabeth's hands, of all things…

"Why do you ask?" Ciel deflected the question back at them, hoping for them to stop blabbering questions at him. Only, instead of stopping their talk, his question seemed to ignite an even bigger maelstrom of words, noise and confusion…

"Because we want to know what it's like being a doll!"

"Because we want to know how it feels being part of the 'in' crowd!"

"Because we want to know what Lizzie is really like!"

"Because we want to know what you've been doing with Lizzie as her 'doll'!"

"Because we want to know if being close to Lizzie and knowing all her habits is better than admiring her as a perfect figure from afar!"

"Because I've always wanted to touch her hands!"

Ciel blanched. What was with the hands? And their obsession with Elizabeth? He still could not understand why everyone was so obsessed with Elizabeth, and he probably never will, but since he could not shut these three up, and since Sebastian could not shut them up for him because he was playing in the game, he did the only thing he could think of.

"Listen," Ciel said, massaging his temples. The three instantly shut up. Ciel nearly fell over, even if he was sitting down. If only he had known it was that easy to get them to stop talking…

Then Finny opened his mouth with a confused expression, and Ciel hurriedly finished his sentence. "If you like Elizabeth so much, I'll introduce you to her when the teacher calls for a break."

"Really?" They looked like Christmas had come early.

"Yes, really." Ciel rolled his eyes just as the teacher blew her whistle.

"Guys, break! We'll keep playing in five minutes until the end of the lesson, and the team who loses needs to pack up!"

Amid shouts of protest about the sudden punishment, Ciel stood and walked over to Elizabeth, acutely aware of the three eager pairs of eyes trained on him.

"Elizabeth."

The blonde turned around, wiping the sweat off her forehead with her arm, a half-empty drink bottle in the other hand. "Ciel! Why aren't you playing?"

"I sprained my ankle and can't play for the next few weeks," Ciel delivered monotonously.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at his feet. "Uh-huh. Your feet look fine, Ciel."

Ciel shrugged. "You just can't see it. Besides, I didn't come over here to talk about my injury, visible or not."

"Then what did you come over here for, Ciel?"

"My, ah, _friends_ wish to meet with you."

Elizabeth smiled widely at Ciel. "Really? I'd love to meet your friends, Ciel. Didn't know you had friends other than Sebastian though…"

Ciel led Elizabeth across the court to stand before the Stupid Trio, who had frozen with shock and awe.

"Hi, I'm Elizabeth, but you can call me Lizzie." She held out one hand and winked at the three, who had nearly turned into ice-blocks at her words and wink.

Finny was the first to recover. "Hi, I'm Finny." He shook Elizabeth's hand and elbowed Mey-rin and Bard on either side of him, who recovered enough to say their name and shake her hand.

After all the introductions were finished, Elizabeth smiled at them again. "It's nice meeting you guys. And even though it's been a while, but I want to say thank you to you three for helping Ciel agree to my doll. I really appreciate your help."

"That's no problem." Bard replied with a dreamy smile.

"If we can help you again," Finny continued with a dreamy smile.

"Be sure to tell us!" Mey-rin finished with a dreamy smile.

Elizabeth's smile turned amused as she turned to Ciel.

"Your friends are funny, Ciel. They're like, the same person but split into three!" Elizabeth grinned. "Anyway, can I come over to your house later?"

Inside his heart of hearts, Ciel screamed 'No!' But his head and mind made him nod his head, reasoning that a man must never back down from a promise and that a man must always fulfil his role with one hundred and ten percent.

"Yes, of course you may."

Elizabeth made to hug Ciel, but refrained after seeing Ciel stiffen at the movement. "Okay then!" She settled with grasping his hand. "I'll see you after school at your house!"

With that, she ran back onto the court just as the teacher called for the players to resume the game.

Ciel turned back to see the Stupid Trio still fawning over Elizabeth, all three stroking their right-hands, the hand they had used to shake _her_ hand.

"She's so nice!"

"She's so cool!"

"She's so pretty!"

"She's so amazing!"

"Her hand was as smooth as I'd imagined!"

"I wish my skin was as nice as hers!"

"If only I could control my strength like she just did!"

Ciel sighed. "If you love Elizabeth so much," he said to the three half-listening people, "Why don't you join Elizabeth's fan-club over there?"

At hearing the word 'fan-club', they immediately swivelled their head in the direction of Ciel's pointing finger.

"There's a fan-club for Lizzie?" Mey-rin gasped.

Finny, "How come we never knew?"

"We are definitely joining now!" Bard shouted, and with that all three of them rushed over to the small group of people in the opposite corner to Ciel. The navy-haired boy sat down with a sigh and leaned back onto the fence, enjoying the quiet that had returned with the departure of the Stupid Trio.

As class ended, and they were all heading back to the change-rooms to change out of their sports uniform back into their normal school uniform, and Sebastian had returned to his side, Ciel noticed Mey-rin, Bard and Finny in deep discussion with one of the members of the fan-club,

Later, at lunch, Bard, Finn and Mey-rin walked into a particular classroom to their first ever 'The Official Elizabeth Midford Fan Club' meeting.

* * *

Elizabeth rang the bell to Ciel's house, waiting for someone to open the door. After a short while, footsteps from somewhere inside the house approached the door, and it soon swung open, revealing Ciel in a pale blue polo, dark grey check puffy shorts and canvas shoes.

Elizabeth grinned at the sight; even if Ciel hadn't fully adapted to modern clothing and still insisting on wearing his shorts, at least he was trying.

"Elizabeth," Ciel intoned. "Please, come in." He gestured for her to enter.

She smiled at him. "Hey, Ciel. How've you been since school ended?"

"Well enough." He led her down the hallway and into a large, open-plan kitchen, where a person was standing there, cooking.

"Elizabeth, this is Bart, our cook." He coughed lightly to capture the cook's attention. "Bart," he said, "This is Elizabeth. She will be joining our study group for today. Could you please make her something to drink?"

Elizabeth suppressed her urge to raise her eyebrow at Ciel's sudden wealth and instead held out her hand.

"Hi Bart, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Miss Elizabeth." The cook, also a blonde but with hair a darker shade, and cut short and choppily, grinned at her, an unlit cigarette clamped between his teeth.

"It's okay!" Elizabeth laughed. "Just call me Lizzie."

"Okay then, Miss Lizzie," Bart made for the fridge. "What would you like to drink?"

Elizabeth looked around furtively, and seeing Ciel sitting down at the dining table a few metres away, leaned in and said quietly, "Make me a Coke Spider, with an extra scoop of ice-cream please?"

Bart raised his eyebrows at the secretive request, but without questioning anything produced the desired drink with a flourish.

"Here you go, Miss Lizzie! Work hard!"

"Thanks, Bart! I'll do my best!"

Behind her, Ciel stood up and walked over to where Elizabeth was standing. "Are you done? Let's go up then."

"See you later, Bart!" Elizabeth said over her shoulder as she followed Ciel back down the corridor and up a sweeping flight of stairs.

Padding his way down the upstairs hallway, Ciel opened a door and entered the room, gesturing for Elizabeth to enter before him. She nodded and did so, only to stop and stare at the room a few paces in.

The room she had just entered was at least one-and-a-half storeys high, with a tall, paned window on the wall opposite her. Panelled bookcases filled with books of all sizes lined the walls from floor to ceiling, leaving space for the door and the large fireplace on the wall to the right of Elizabeth. Looking closer, the flame was smokeless and not actually burning the logs placed inside the fireplace.

"The flame's alcohol-fuelled, tailor-blended to balance between emitting enough heat to warm people up and to prevent books from burning or spoiling."

Elizabeth looked around, startled at the sudden voice, until she spotted Sebastian rising from one of the wing couches placed around a coffee table in front of the fireplace.

"How did you…"

"Usually people ask about the fire immediately after entering this room for the first time, so I presumed that's what you were thinking about when you started staring at the fire."

"Oh. Right."

Sebastian smiled at her. "Hello, Elizabeth."

"Hey, Sebastian. How have you been since I saw you last?"

"Good enough." Sebastian's smile grew politer with each word.

"I see Ciel wearing his new clothes."

Sebastian smiled wider. "Of course I can't let him waste your efforts from last Saturday. I make sure he wears his new clothes, so don't worry about that."

"Thank you!" Elizabeth beamed at Sebastian, unconsciously smoothing her coral-red shorts in an attempt to mask her nervousness around Sebastian.

"Anyway," Sebastian said, gesturing to the lounges, "Make yourself comfortable."

"Okay," Elizabeth replied with a smile. "I'll be sure to do that then. Thank you." She sat down onto three-seater lounge, setting her drink onto the table in front of her. Next to her, Sebastian settled back down into the seat he had just vacated and picked up a book. From where she was sitting, Elizabeth could just see the title of his book, _The Damnation of Faust_.

Barely preventing her jaw from dropping at Sebastian's reading material, she took out her pencil case and notebooks and began to do her homework. She could see Ciel doing the same thing behind her at a large wooden desk set in front of the window, but after a while, when she realised that Sebastian had not started to do his homework…

"Umm…" Elizabeth looked at Sebastian. "Don't you have homework to do too, Sebastian?"

He smirked, placing a finger inside the book to keep his place. "I've already finished the homework for the year, Elizabeth. What other homework is there to do?"

"Oh… that's amazing! I'll just get back to mine then…" Elizabeth hastily began to do a maths problem to mask her incredulity, and soon after, Sebastian resumed his reading.

_Did he just say he's _finished_ the year's homework? But we're only a few weeks into Term ONE! Should he even still be a high school student…?_

A short while after, just as Elizabeth finished her history questions for that day, Ciel called out to Sebastian that he was finished.

"Okay then," Sebastian stood and strolled over to the desk. "Let's see if you're still getting those questions wrong."

Ciel scowled. "I didn't. I know what I did wrong yesterday, so I can't have…"

After glancing through Ciel's paper, Sebastian smiled. "You're all right, then." He turned to Elizabeth looking over at them with a slightly opened mouth and smirked. "Do you want me to mark your answers too, Elizabeth?"

She nodded mutely, still unable to believe that Sebastian marked Ciel's homework for him. Sebastian, who by then had already walked over to where Elizabeth's work lay, scanned through her answers.

"You've got most of these right, but here, it's not…" Sebastian sat down next to Elizabeth and began to explain her errors to her, guiding her to find the right answer herself.

"There, that's all you got wrong. I'll be teaching Ciel next; would you like to join?"

Elizabeth gaped. _Teaching?_ "It's okay; I'll just look on today."

Sebastian got to his feet and smiled down at her politely. "Then you'll be staying here? Good luck with the rest of your homework."

"Thank you…" Elizabeth said hesitantly. She watched Sebastian roll out a whiteboard from underneath the desk and unfold it, watched Ciel take out notebooks and pencils, watched as Physics concepts were introduced, explained and understood in record time.

They were only doing mixed Science at school this year! For them to be teaching streamlined science subjects meant that… Elizabeth's already open mouth dropped even bigger. It would mean that they were doing subjects more than a year ahead!

No wonder they were so smart! They were already discussing 'Gravitational Attraction between Masses', or whatever it was, while the most scientific anyone got in class this year, from what she had heard, was making crystals from powders and stuff! And they were looking at Newton theories already…

Elizabeth, looking on at the two hard at work, felt a spark of determination ignite within her. She was going to catch up to Ciel and his level! Even if it meant sacrificing all her co-curricular activities for the next few months! If it meant that she could communicate to Ciel on a better basis, then she would do it!

Besides, maybe it would help her become second in the grade. Elizabeth knew getting first would be impossible, not with someone who was teaching high school work whilst still being in high school themselves guarding first place in the grade.

So she thought, and observed, as she continued slaving away at her consumer arithmetic homework while Ciel grappled with Newton's Three Laws applied to the heavenly bodies filling the universe.

* * *

"Thanks for letting me come over, Ciel. And Sebastian, thanks for helping me with my homework." Elizabeth stood on Ciel's doorstep and nodded at the two.

"It was my pleasure, Elizabeth." Ciel and Sebastian replied.

"You know, I was thinking…" Elizabeth glanced down at her gold ballet-flat clad feet before looking back up at the pair silhouetted in the doorway by the light spilling from the hallway behind them.

"Yes?" Ciel prompted after a long pause.

"Could I come over every day after school to do my homework?"

Ciel sighed and nodded reluctantly. It wasn't as if she interrupted his study today…

"And could you please check my homework every day, Sebastian?"

"Definitely." Sebastian smiled at her. Elizabeth shuddered inwardly at the seediness of his smile, and mentally made a note to tell him when she got to know him better.

"One more thing!"

Ciel folded his arms. Sebastian raised an eyebrow. Elizabeth laughed sheepishly.

"Could I join your lessons, Ciel, when you, Sebastian, are teaching subjects I'm planning on taking next year?"

Ciel nodded as Sebastian voiced his assent.

"Great! Thanks guys, thank you so much for doing this for me!" Elizabeth grabbed Ciel's hand and shook it, repeating the process with Sebastian.

A beep sounded from the street. Elizabeth smiled at Ciel and Sebastian again.

"Bye! See you tomorrow at school!" She twirled around and walked down to her car, which whisked her away down the street.

Ciel breathed a sigh of relief. "She's so hard to deal with… so unpredictable!"

Sebastian raised an eyebrow as he closed the door behind him. "And yet you agreed to her coming to study every day?"

"She was better than usual today; very quiet." Ciel started to walk down the hallway towards the dining room. "If she's as serious about her studies as she appears to be, she won't be much trouble to us at all."

"As you wish, Ciel."

* * *

Elizabeth stepped out of her bathroom, towel curled around her head turban style, and sat down at her dressing table.

"Hey, Paula?" Elizabeth said as she began to pat her face with toner.

"Yeah, Liz?"

"Ciel and Sebastian are so smart!" Now Elizabeth began to rub cream into her skin with little circular motions.

"Why do you say that?" Paula sat down on Elizabeth's bed, her arms holding onto a full laundry basket.

"Ciel finishes his homework early! And is learning stuff from next year's syllabus! Not just that, but Sebastian's finished his homework already! For the whole year! I feel so stupid next to them…"

Paula laughed. "You're not stupid! You're third in the grade! Much smarter than the others in your school! Except Ciel and Sebastian."

"I know… I'm going to catch up to them, you know?"

"Of course, of course, Liz." Paula smiled and got to her feet, making her way out of the room with the dirty clothes in her basket. "Besides, as a bonus you've finished your homework for today!"

"True that!" Elizabeth began to blow-dry her hair. "I plan to change my schedule a bit, so after I'm done I'll show you and you can tell everyone, okay, Paula?"

"Of course I don't mind! Take your time planning, Liz! And don't forget dinner's in ten!"

Elizabeth nodded absentmindedly, already reshuffling her schedule.

_If I drop yoga to maybe half-an-hour in the morning before school instead of classes? I know what I'm doing in yoga already…. How about changing the swimming to every Monday, Wednesday, Friday? I'll do yoga on the other days…_

After she was done, Elizabeth printed a nicer copy and stuck it to her door, so that Paula would spread it around the house for her.

Elizabeth glanced at the clock. _Five minutes_…

What could she do with five minutes left?

_Maybe I'll go watch my fav. scenes from _Ouran _again before dinner starts…_

* * *

**Hi guys...**

**This is late by one more unexpected day because of stupid and its random glitches. So don't blame me! Blame them!**

**Also, it's short because it makes sense to end this 'studying chappie' here and start the next bit (which definitely has less filler! I know because I've planned it already :P) in the next chappie. So yeah. Sorry for the shortness! But it does make sense. You will see when the next chappie goes up :)**

**Hope you are all well :) Thanks to alerters, favouriters, and most of all, and the most loved of all, the reviewers! **Ashley Antwolf, Aquilon, Circus0900, colbub, Dream Glaze, KiDGE, Lupus-Cantus-Grimoure, Rogue Soul Alchemist, Beryl Bloodstone**, you guys are awesome! Please sit down and have a piece of lovely matcha flavoured chiffon fruit cake :) You deserve it! :DD**

**Last of all, a shout-out to my awesome sister who deserves a shout-out for being my sounding board, my motivator, my un-procrastinator, and generally being the lazy, unbothered, awesome person she is :)**

**Until next time!  
et-r**


	8. Stage Seven Pt I: Sport

**Stage Seven Pt. I: Sport**

* * *

Slowly but surely, Ciel adjusted to life with Elizabeth bothering him after school every day. He had to admit though, outside of school and without any of her loud, annoying, ditzy friends following around her, Elizabeth was a lot quieter and reserved.

Not that that meant she stopped talking loudly or making weird strange remarks about things (the other day, they had been learning about hydrogen bonding when she suddenly squealed that she found the water molecule Sebastian had drawn on the board _cute_), but when they were in their study sessions she did not babble on about whatever crossed her mind like she usually did.

In fact, now that he thought about it, Elizabeth had stopped a lot of her babbling even when with her friends, only talking about the more relevant and interesting topics instead of always going on about some 'cute' garment. Ciel supposed that spending extended amounts of time with Sebastian and him must have influenced Elizabeth to some extent, but this was not an issue that affected him much, and so he did not pay much more attention to it.

Ciel was just grateful that she stayed quiet around him and took her studies seriously enough to prevent her from affecting his own studies. Elizabeth had even helped clear up some of his own queries about certain concepts, which made Ciel accept her presence even more than he already had.

And so days turned into weeks, and Elizabeth became a permanent and integral part of their study sessions.

Elizabeth, however, had none of Ciel's indifference about her studying with them after school. Even after only spending one session with them had made Elizabeth feel like her head was about to explode. Her friends had remarked about how quiet Elizabeth had become after starting her studying sessions, but who felt like talking when they always felt like they had just finished a mental marathon?

Every day after school, she would go home to eat and change out of her uniform before heading over to Ciel's house for two hours of intense studying. One hour would be spent doing homework, while the second Sebastian used to teach the two. Out of all the subjects that Ciel was learning from Sebastian, the only one Elizabeth did not participate in was Physics, so she would spend that time finishing other work.

Every night, when she got home for dinner, Elizabeth's head would be throbbing from the concentration that she had held for the past two hours. The more she worked with Ciel and Sebastian, the more stupid and slow Elizabeth felt. They whizzed through chapters of maths questions while she struggled with one exercise. They wrote a complete essay while she was still analysing the set text they were studying for English. They grappled with chemical equations and reactions while she was still remembering the chemical symbol for Sodium.

She envied Ciel's ability to absorb Sebastian's quick, thorough and in-depth lessons. Elizabeth always felt that as soon as she had learnt one piece of information, another would come along and take its place in her memory. Ciel took in everything and missed nothing, scribbling words down almost as soon as Sebastian had said them, answering Sebastian's questions correctly every single time. But then again, Ciel had been learning from Sebastian since who-knows-when.

Elizabeth rather thought she was doing well, considering she had only been studying with them for a few weeks.

When she had complained to Sebastian that he was going too fast, he just smiled and said to trust him and his method. He even went so far to predict that she would get full marks on her trigonometry test before checking her homework for the day.

Full marks! Elizabeth had laughed when Sebastian had said that. She had never gotten past ninety-two percent for any test, let alone for maths, her weakest subject, where she had always averaged in the mid-eighties. But when the results came back for that very test and Elizabeth had gotten only one mark off for forgetting her units in one question…

After dinner, Elizabeth would finish off any remaining homework before crawling in bed at ten-thirty. Georgia had laughed derisively when Elizabeth told her that she slept at ten-thirty every night.

"_What? Ten-thirty? Gosh… I don't think I've slept before at the very earliest eleven-thirty since Year Seven!"_

"_That's because I get tired then!" Elizabeth had protested._

_Georgia just laughed and ruffled Elizabeth's hair. "Yeah yeah. You're so cute. It's a good thing. It's so healthy. I can't sleep early even if I tried now. But still… Ten-thirty…"_

As a side effect, Elizabeth was now waking up at six-thirty every morning. When Paula found her one morning staring at Elmo talking to a goldfish, she told Elizabeth to go do some morning yoga.

"It'll clear up your mind and wake you up and all that. Might as well do something useful, right? Besides, you've sacrificed your yoga sessions for your studying, so do them now when you've got extra time!"

And so she did.

Saturdays were spent going out with her friends and revising her notes, and Sundays were strictly free of study. Elizabeth usually spent her Sunday afternoons swimming in their indoor fifty-metre pool before floating on a pool lounge with a Coke Spider in hand, staring at the clouds through the UV tinted sky-roof for hours on end…

After several weeks like this, when Ciel and Sebastian had more or less accepted Elizabeth as part of their little circle of 'associates', as Ciel called his friends, Elizabeth decided to move on to the next stage of Ciel's Transformation. For the first time since its conception, she had nearly forgotten about the whole Operation until Mariette had exclaimed on how fast her Doll was progressing at lunch one day.

"_You can't believe how well Wallace has been getting at ice-skating! Like, he was such a total newb at the start, and now he's like, spinning and jumping and everything!"_

_Sarah laughed. "It's always ice-skating, isn't it?"_

"_Of course!" Mariette poked her tongue out at Sarah. "Ice-skating is the best!"_

"_Soccer is the best!" They turned to look at Diana, who was currently staring at Josh kicking a football around._

"_You're just saying that because a certain boy is on the school soccer team!" Cindy teased, nudging Diana with an elbow. Everyone laughed as Diana turned red and began to protest._

_Throughout the whole exchange, Elizabeth stared at the group in confusion, until she finally realised that they were talking about Dolls and Operation: Transformation…_

Elizabeth could not believe that she had forgotten all about Ciel being her Doll. Even studying too much was not a valid excuse! How could she have forgotten her mission for improving Ciel's life from boring to fabulous?

At the same time, getting to know Ciel better now allowed Elizabeth to know how exactly to coerce Ciel into agreeing to the next phase of the Transformation. After all, how else would she get Ciel, someone who had allegedly given in a note to the school saying that he was allergic to sport and thus could not participate in school sport or P.E. lessons, to agree to go sporting with her every week?

* * *

"Bye Ciel, Sebastian! Thanks for today again!" Elizabeth stood on the front step and beamed at the two people standing in front of her.

Ciel sighed. "What happened to you? You were all quiet and then now you're loud and noisy again."

"That's because I got that ninety-nine percent last time for maths! Proves to me that I'm not stupid! I even threw a party for that!"

Elizabeth giggled as Ciel raised an eyebrow. "Stupid, I know, but really! Maths is like, my worst subject! I never get anything more than an eighty-five, and suddenly I get ninety-nine? I really must thank you, Sebby-chan! Wish you guys had come to the party too…"

Sebastian looked at Elizabeth in amusement as Ciel shivered with horror next to him.

"You aren't stupid, Elizabeth. You just needed some prodding in the right direction."

"But still, it was kinda overwhelming for the first couple of weeks, you know? I mean, you can like, cram so much in an hour it's like I'm getting stuffed with an encyclopaedia every time I go home, and it was _so_ depressing because Ciel was fully like, whizzing through it, and here I was, struggling to keep up, struggling to get my homework done, and yeah…"

Sebastian smirked. "You've gotten faster this week, if you wanted to know." As Elizabeth cheered, causing Ciel to frown, Sebastian continued to talk. "You just need to get used to my methods. You recently received a ninety-eight for the Science test, and full marks for Commerce, didn't you? As I said, you're not stupid."

Elizabeth grinned at him. "Thanks for everything anyway."

Sebastian smiled genuinely in response, causing Elizabeth to blink in surprise.

_Did Sebastian just… smile properly? So he doesn't smile like a pervert normally?_

"You should smile like that more often, Sebby-chan. You look much better."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "'Sebby-chan?'"

"I came with the name today at lunch!" Elizabeth laughed and poked her tongue out at Sebastian. "Like, Cindy was talking about this cute Japanese girl who's just joined her workplace and how she keeps calling her Cindy-chan, and I thought it sounded really like the end of your name, so yeah. That's how Sebby-chan was born. And I think it's cute! So I'm totally going to call you that from now on."

Sebastian put on his default, polite-smile-poker face on as he tried to process that he now had 'Sebby-chan', as a nickname, supposedly cute and utterly adorable and not even remotely nightmarish or headache-inducing.

Elizabeth turned back to Ciel, who was now leaning on the doorframe with a scowl on his face.

"Anyway, you're generally free Saturday afternoons, yeah?"

Ciel nodded curtly.

"Would you like to come and meet me Saturday afternoon? I have a really cool surprise for you as a thank you thing for letting me come over all the time after school, and it's de-stressing and a change in scenery and people say it's good for your mental health. So… would you like to come? Of course," Elizabeth looked up and Sebastian and smiled. "Sebby-chan is invited."

Her casual words hid her anxiety. Ciel was so hung up on academics and his mental abilities and agilities that he would probably agree to anything that helped him become more mentally alert and helped give him an academic advantage. At the same time, he was so suspicious… would something this vague really slip past Ciel's 'alert' net?

Elizabeth held her breath as Ciel stared at her thoughtfully, then glanced up at Sebastian, who twitched his eyebrow slightly at the look.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Ciel sighed and nodded.

"Okay. I'll be happy to meet with you on Saturday afternoon to do whatever you said you wanted me to do."

"Really?" That quickly? No questions? No doubts? Nothing?

"Then, how about two o'clock, the Castlereagh Street gates for Victoria Park?"

Ciel sighed again before nodding in assent.

Elizabeth grinned at Ciel. "I'll see you then then! For the surprise, don't forget to wear comfortable clothes and your new sneakers!"

Doubts began to grow in Ciel's mind as Elizabeth bade them a good bye before bounding down the path and into the waiting car pulled over at the kerb.

"Hey, Sebastian…?" The older boy, who had been turning around to re-enter the house, looked back at his cousin, who was staring at the disappearing rear lights of the departing car.

"What's wrong, Ciel?"

"Did she just say sneakers?"

Sebastian glanced briefly at Ciel's horror-stricken face before smirking. "Do you really need to ask me that? You know the answer already."

Ciel absentmindedly followed Sebastian through the house. Surely he was over-reacting to Elizabeth's comment. After all, many people wore sneakers everyday as part of their regular footwear. Surely it was just a comment for Elizabeth to confirm that he was not going back to wearing his old clothes and shoes when she was not looking.

At the same time, Elizabeth's grin had turned fleetingly evil when she tossed it out so casually before heading down the garden pathway.

Sebastian, who had noticed Ciel's growing confusion, smirked.

"Stop worrying about it. You'll find out when you turn up on Saturday afternoon, which is in a day and a half, so when it comes, it'll come, positive or negative."

Ciel picked up his knife and fork with a scowl. "You always say the same thing. Always about accepting things and going with the flow. Say something else next time."

Sebastian ignored Ciel in favour of his spaghetti, and soon the only sounds filling the dining room were the muted sounds of spaghetti chewing and the soft _clink_ of cutlery.

* * *

"When's the midget gonna come? It's been ages."

Elizabeth glared at the guy next to her. "Josh, I said two o'clock. It just passed one forty-five right now. So of course Ciel's not gonna be here yet."

Josh sighed. "Why d'you call me out so early for then? We could've eaten later and then we wouldn't have to wait for so long…"

"It's bad for you to exercise right after eating! So eating early and then waiting is way better than doing what you wanted."

"Whatever… am I like, even going to get the exercise that you keep saying that we'll get? I mean, Ciel's never does any sport. I bet he's totally gonna like, trip over every five seconds or something really terrible like that."

"As if!" Elizabeth laughed at Josh's exaggeration. "No one's that bad at sport! And yeah, he can't tie his shoelaces or button up his shirts properly or whatever, but he's not that un-co!"

Josh nearly fell off the brick ledge they were currently perched on as they waited for Ciel. "What? He can't tie his shoelaces? You're joking!"

"Nope. Actually saw Sebby-chan tie his shoelaces for him when I was going to Commerce on like, Wednesday or something."

"The kid's fifteen! A kindie kid could do that! Hell, I knew how to tie shoelaces when I was in kindie!"

Elizabeth laughed at Josh's incredulity. "I'm totally serious!" Her foot idly kicked against the bronze 'Victoria Park' plaque fixed on the wall beneath them. "Ciel doesn't know how to tie his shoelace!"

Josh nodded slowly, still gaping at Elizabeth. "You sure he can handle sports and stuff?"

"Yes." Elizabeth rolled her eyes at Josh's continued disbelief before turning back to the street-scape in front of her.

Josh began to play with the football in his hands, rolling back and forth, bouncing it between his hands, on the ground, lightly kicking and balancing it on his feet. Elizabeth looked around, seeing clusters of people ambling along the street, meandering couples wrapped up in their own world. A light breeze blew up, rustling the trees in the park behind them, interweaving with short staccato beats of conversations and the low engine rumbles of the cars slowly driving across the intersection in front of the park.

The clock behind them struck two, and a sleek, black car pulled up in front of the gates of Victoria Park.

Elizabeth nudged Josh's foot. "I think that's them," she murmured, ignoring his exclamation of her nearly making him lose his football even as he flicked it smoothly up into his arms.

The door facing the road opened and Sebastian walked around the car to open the door for Ciel. Elizabeth was gratified to see that the foot emerging from the car was wearing the Nike sneakers they had bought for Ciel weeks ago. And then, as Ciel fully stepped out onto the pavement, Sebastian closing the door behind him and the car driving off, Elizabeth and Josh stared.

Ciel was wearing a salmon-pink polo shirt. With white, knee-length shorts. And his ever-present eye-patch. The two knew that they were the ones that had bought those clothes for Ciel, but even they had not imagined this ensemble. Pink shirt, black eye-patch, white shorts, white sneakers… it made Ciel look primary-aged. Complete with the cuteness that accompanied most primary-aged children. Even if he had his eye-patch on, which somehow added vulnerability to Ciel's appearance and made him look even cuter than he already looked.

People on the street had also stopped and stared at Ciel, who seemed oblivious to the attention he was getting as he walked toward the pair perched on the walls of Victoria Park.

"Oh my gosh he's cute! Where's my phone? I need a picture."

"…he's even cuter than my daughter…"

"...I'm not a fan of eye-patches, but on him…"

"Hello, Elizabeth, Josh."

Ciel's greeting jolted Elizabeth and Josh out of their daze.

"Hey, Ciel! How're you?" Elizabeth leapt down from the wall and picked up the bag at her feet. "You look good today."

"Thank you," Ciel said nonchalantly, looking at his surroundings with indifference.

Josh twirled his football and grinned at Ciel. "Nice to see you're not wasting the clothes we bought you."

Sebastian smirked at Josh. "Of course not. I make sure he doesn't."

Elizabeth and Josh shared a glance at his remark – _what does he mean? Does he pick out Ciel's clothes or something?_ – before they began to walk into the park.

"You're not dressed like Ciel is. Does that mean you're not joining us today?"

Sebastian smiled politely. "Yes, I'll be doing some reading while you play with Ciel."

At that, Ciel jutted into the conversation. "You still haven't told me what we're doing, Elizabeth."

"We're going to start looking for a sport that suits you, Ciel!"

"…did you just say sport?"

Elizabeth smiled at him. "Yeah. You can't just study all the time, you know. You need to get like, more balance into your life! Can't just sit there all day long, like seriously! Being active will totally get your brain more fired up and your body more alert!"

"I knew it. I was right. I should've said no…" Ciel muttered to Sebastian.

"But you didn't." Sebastian's smile grew wider at Ciel's pained expression. "Remember what your father said. When you've promised something –"

" – I need to fully see it through. Yes, I know." Ciel glared at Sebastian. "You don't need to remind me."

Sebastian just smirked at Ciel's glare.

"We're here!" Elizabeth and Josh had reached the public sports field and courts in the park. "Josh'll help you with all these sports. He's better at them than I am. Except for basketball."

"As if!" Josh ruffled Elizabeth's immaculate ponytail, to which Elizabeth responded by sticking her tongue out at him.

"Anyways, what do you wanna start with first?" Josh asked. "Football, basketball or tennis?"

Ciel groaned.

* * *

"So. To dribble a basketball, you need to hold the ball in one hand." Elizabeth spread Ciel's fingers further apart for a better grip. "Don't hold it so loosely that it'll fall out, but don't hold it so tightly it can't come out of your hand easily."

Ciel frowned with what Elizabeth took as concentration. She smiled. At least Ciel was trying. Even if his ball sense was the most horrible thing she'd ever come across.

"Now, let go of the ball and let it bounce on the ground."

Immediately after she said that, Ciel let go of the basketball. It bounced once pathetically before rolling away from the pair and towards Josh, who idly kicked it towards Ciel as he prepared to shoot yet another hoop.

Elizabeth nodded encouragingly as Ciel picked up the ball and held it in one hand just as she taught.

"This time, when you let go of the ball, try pushing it so that the ball will bounce back into your hand." She turned around. "Josh! Stop shooting and come over here and demonstrate how to dribble!" Elizabeth emphasised her reprimand with a glare and a pointed smile.

Josh gulped jogged towards them with a grin plastered on his face. "So Ciel, what don't you get?"

Elizabeth sighed. "I want you to dribble once," she said, turning back to Ciel. "Now. When Josh bounces the ball, see how he like, pushes lightly on the ball? And straightly? So that the ball doesn't rebound in some weird direction?"

Ciel nodded with a frown and an inward sigh. _When was this going to end?_ he thought tiredly. _This is absolutely pointless. How is learning how to 'dribble' beneficial to my future?_

Elizabeth saw it and once again misinterpreted it as enthusiastic concentration.

"You wanna try? Look at Josh again, and then do it yourself, yeah?" She smiled brightly at Ciel.

_This is stupid… but I better do it or she'll make me do something worse..._

He observed Josh resignedly before obediently copying his actions. Much to his surprise, the ball actually did bounce back into his hand. Weakly, but it still made it into his hand.

Ciel was still staring incredulously at the ball in his hand when he suddenly felt a huge weight fall onto him.

"Don't touch me so easily!" He shrugged Elizabeth's hug violently. Elizabeth only beamed at him.

Ciel sighed.

Was him getting the ball to bounce from the ground back into his hand really that marvellous and miraculous that it merited an over-the-moon, I-told-you-so smile from Elizabeth? Or an OMGSH-CIEL-JUST-DRIBBLED-THE-BALL stare from Josh next to her? What was so special about bouncing the ball between his hand and the ground anyway? Was there a point to this pointless exercise?

He still did not understand why Elizabeth was so… so… _obsessed_, for the lack of a better word, with finding him a suitable activity that involved strenuous physical exercise. They had just spent an hour teaching him how to hold a tennis racket, which chafed his palms with the overlarge, overly thick handle, and how to hit a tennis ball with said racket, which was near impossible, with the ball so small and moving so fast and the racket having such a small hitting surface area.

And before that, they had spent another hour teaching him how to run with a soccer ball. How did they expect someone to run properly with a thing rolling between their feet? And how did they expect someone to roll the ball while running while looking around for hazardous bumps and dips in the ground?

People may find these exercises enjoyable, but Ciel was still struggling to find the more intriguing aspects of these sports. Aspects that would engage his mind a little more instead of just making him run around and move his limbs purposelessly.

"…Ciel, you get me?"

He could not help feel a little resentment towards the blond girl. He knew she meant well…

"Ciel? Are you listening to me?"

Ciel looked up from the ground.

"… yes?"

Elizabeth sighed before smiling.

"You wanna try doing dribbling non-stop ten times? Then we'll call it a day."

Ciel brightened up at the words.

"I just have to bounce the ball on the ground ten times?"

"Yeah." Behind her, Josh had drifted away to shoot hoops again. "Do you think you can do that?"

Elizabeth was rather shocked at the sudden determination that blazed in Ciel's eyes as he nodded. She looked in in amazement as he began to 'bounce' the ball, as he called it, with enthusiasm. She gaped when Ciel successfully dribbled the ball ten times after trying for half an hour.

"I've bounced it ten times. Shall we call it a day?" Ciel did not even wait for her answer before giving Elizabeth the ball and walking towards Sebastian, who had been sitting against the fence for the past few hours.

"Sebastian. Let's go."

Sebastian looked up at his younger cousin and smirked. "Have you finished exercising for today already?" He asked in a bland voice, snapping shut _War and Peace_ and standing up casually.

Ciel scowled. "Yes, we've finished."

Sebastian smiled. "Let's go home then, shall we?"

Ciel stalked past him through the open door in the fence, making his way down the path stiffly, assuming (correctly) Sebastian would fall in step with him.

Elizabeth and Josh followed a slight distance behind them.

"That was boring," Josh declared, absently dribbling the basketball in his hands. "Please don't like, say you've decided to train Ciel in this stuff. I don't wanna teach him how to like, I don't know, shoot a hoop or kick a goal or something."

Elizabeth sighed. "I won't. Don't think this stuff is right for him. I could tell he was bored with this stuff ten minutes in."

"Then why d'you force us to go through all that then?"

"Because we might as well. And he knows how to kick a ball, hit a tennis ball and dribble now. Don't you think it's like, better that he knows it now? Instead of being all like, I can't hold a tennis racket or kick a soccer ball?"

"True that… and it's football."

"Yeah, whatever."

They subsided into silence, both observing the two figures, one towering over the other, walking quickly along the path in front of them.

"Hey…" Josh began.

"We're swimming next week."

He stared at her in amazement. "How d'you know what I was gonna ask?"

"I didn't spend growing up with you for nothing, you idiot."

Josh laughed before a sudden thought struck him into silence.

"Does he even know how to swim?"

Elizabeth looked at him with a grin. "He has to! We had to do those swimming lessons back in Year Seven, remember? No one got out of it. Like, _no one_."

Josh sighed. "Good. I really don't want to like, teach that kid how to swim. That's like, the stuff of _nightmares_."

Elizabeth giggled at his comment. "Totally agree. And even if it's not his thing, I'm gonna make him swim anyway. You think he's free Sundays?"

Josh gaped at her. "You wanna make him go swim with you on Sundays?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Yeah. It's the best way to get him fit fast."

"That means you have to like, face him _every day_ of the week! And you've always made a Doll-less day in the week in the past!"

"I don't know…" Elizabeth glanced at Josh before her gaze returned to Ciel in front of her. "It's strange, but I feel like Ciel's different somehow to the others. Like, he's not desperate for my company, or desperate for a change. And I like that that. Makes me wanna make him awesomer and cuter than he is now!"

"Right…" Josh grinned at her and punched her arm. "You totally didn't just sound like a creepy stalker."

Elizabeth mock-glared at him. "You punched me! And I'm totally not a creepy stalker!"

Then she noticed Ciel and Sebastian had already reached the gates, and were waiting for them, Ciel with a scowl, Sebastian with his ever-present smile.

"Thanks for coming, Ciel." Elizabeth smiled warmly at her Doll. "I know this wasn't really your thing, so I really appreciate you coming. And think! You learnt so many things today!"

Ciel responded with an angry pout, which made Elizabeth squeal in delight inside.

"Thanks for helping Ciel, and thanks for inviting me along," Sebastian responded for both of them, smiling at Elizabeth before shaking hands with Josh, who looked bemused at the gesture. "Our ride's come, so see you next week at school."

Sebastian helped Ciel into the car before going to the other side and getting in himself.

Elizabeth and Josh watched the car speed off.

"They left before I could tell them what we were doing next week," Elizabeth complained to Josh. "I'll need to teach Ciel some people skills, I think."

Josh raised an eyebrow. "You think? That kid's got like, no social skills whatsoever. Tell him on Monday."

"Yeah okay… why are you holding your hand funny?" Elizabeth eyed Josh's right hand.

"He shook my hand! Sebastian actually shook my hand!" Josh shook his head, wiping his hand on his pants. "Who does that nowadays? Apart from business people and stuff?"

"Me!" Elizabeth laughed before cheekily shaking Josh's hand, who looked on with an expression torn between amusement and exasperation.

* * *

As people swam/splashed/slow-motion ran around in the shallower pool, they stared at a beautiful blonde, the guy next to her capturing the eyes and attentions of many females in the vicinity, wishing that _they_ were the ones who could sit next to _them_ alone… Most of them knew the girl by name and wanted to greet her just to show to the world that they knew her, but she seemed so captivated by what the boy next to her was saying, smiling so brilliantly and laughing so delightfully, that they stayed back, unwilling to break into their conversation.

Elizabeth would have been ecstatic if she knew how many people recognised her by name in the pool. But both Josh and Elizabeth did not notice this attention as they dangled their feet in the water, waiting for Ciel to come out of the change rooms.

Josh nudged his foot against Elizabeth's pale one, the ripples caused by the motion distorting their feet into weird, alien shapes.

"Still can't believe you like, got him to come and everything."

"It was _sooo_ funny!" Elizabeth laughed. "Holy crap, he was fully looking at me like I was some monster or something when I said we were going swimming. And he was did the whole widen eyes gaping mouth thing as well! Too bad his eye-patch blocks his expression a bit…"

"You'd think taking off the eye-patch last week would've like, made his accuracy better, but his aim was so friggin' bad without his eye-patch. I kinda wonder how he manages to focus in class without his eye-patch."

Elizabeth grinned. "He knows the stuff already, so duh he's chill in class."

"Dayum…" Josh muttered. "I want to know my stuff already too… then I could go football all the time!"

"You do know how much study he does, right?"

"Yeah?"

"So if you wanted to be like him and be ahead and stuff, you wouldn't be able to go footballing all the time anyway."

"True that…"

Elizabeth patted him on the head. "It's okay. Just keep being the dumb fashion jock you are now and you'll be fine."

"M'kay."

"You could also stop kicking my foot already."

Josh looked down into the water, where his foot was still absently knocking Elizabeth's foot. "Sorry!" He laughed sheepishly. "I totally didn't notice."

"Yeah, whatever. So stop doing it already!"

Whatever Josh was about to say was lost as Elizabeth ignored him to wave at Ciel and Sebastian, who had finally walked out of the change rooms.

"Ciel! Over here!"

All the males in the room turned around to glare at the pair, envious of who had the honour to be associated with Elizabeth. All the females looked around, curious to see who had the honour of knowing Elizabeth, and thus Josh next to her. Half of that female population immediately turned into fans at seeing a delicate, navy-haired, boy wearing bottle-green, tailored boardshorts, one eye shyly hidden behind a lock of hair. The other half of the female population took one look at Sebastian, a tall dark wiry man wearing navy _Speedos_, and turned into piles of mush.

Ciel and Sebastian, oblivious to the reactions they had incited with their appearance, approached Elizabeth and Josh.

Sebastian smiled down at the pair. "Thank you for waiting. Ciel had some trouble figuring out how to tighten the tie of his shorts."

"That's no problem." Josh waved at them with feigned nonchalance, while everything inside him was gaping at the shorter boy, who was looking around his surroundings with a bored expression. _What… I thought boardies would've been one of the easiest things to put on like, _ever_? Maybe the shoelace thing Liz mentioned before is actually true…_

Elizabeth smiled at Ciel. "Where did you get those boardies?"

"My father made them for me."

"Your dad's so talented!"

Ciel looked away, hiding the small swell of pride he felt at hearing Elizabeth's praise.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," Sebastian said with a smile and a slight bow, "I'll be swimming in the bigger pool while you swim with Ciel."

"No problem! See you later!"

Sebastian made his way over to the adjacent, Olympic-sized pool, and executing a perfect dive into the water, began to churn through the water with a textbook freestyle.

Josh watched Sebastian swim with longing, while Elizabeth instructed Ciel to swim to the other side of the pool and back, one lap with freestyle and the other with backstroke.

"Do you know any other strokes?"

Ciel shook his head. "I can only swim freestyle and backstroke."

Elizabeth nodded thoughtfully. _Good enough… I was expecting him to only know how to swim freestyle anyway. Bonus backstroke!_

"Do you want to start now?" Elizabeth said aloud, smiling reassuringly at Ciel. "Don't mind like, how fast or slow you swim, I just wanna see where you're at right now."

Ciel nodded with a sigh, slipping into the water with a shiver before starting his first lap. Elizabeth watched, nudging Josh with her knee.

"What d'you think?"

Josh, who had been watching Sebastian fly across the pool with the quietest, non-splashy butterfly he had ever seen, said absentmindedly, "I wanna go race him… He's so fast! Look at that! He's swum like, five laps already!"

Elizabeth elbowed him. "You said you'd help me with Ciel's swimming! You know you're better at swimming than I am!"

"Yeah… but he's like, so fast and I really wanna race him…"

"After! And he has to say yes first anyways."

"Really?" Josh turned to Elizabeth and beamed at her. "I'll ask later. He'll prob say yes anyway."

"Yes, really." Elizabeth sighed exasperatedly. "Now can you go look at Ciel's swimming already?"

Josh sniffed. "It's not like he's going anywhere, swimming that slowly."

Indeed, after all these minutes, Ciel had only reached this pool's halfway mark.

"So? Go tell me what you think already!"

Josh made a face before staring thoughtfully at Ciel.

"He's got good technique there. It's practically perfect," Josh noted with surprise. "It's actually like, really really good. He's just slow. In fact, seeing Ciel swim's like watching the slow-mo version of Sebastian's swimming."

Elizabeth nodded. "Sebby-chan prob taught him, so duh he has perfect posture or whatever you call it."

Josh pursed his lips. "Like, he'd be really fast if he trained up his breath, stamina and strength. I mean, look at him. He needs to like, come up for air every second stroke. And then even though he should have max propelling strength or whatever with a form like that, he goes like, what, twenty, thirty centimetres with one pull and kick. That's pathetic!"

Elizabeth leaned down to rest her elbows on her knees. "Then I don't have to teach him anything? Just get him to swim more?"

"Yeah, basically. Unless he wants to learn how to like, breaststroke or butterfly or something. And I'd leave the teaching to Sebastian anyway."

"True that. Then I'm defs getting him to come over and swim twenty laps every Sunday then."

"You seriously gonna do that? Thought you were just joking when you mentioned it last time!"

"Nup. It's the best way! I told you that already! And it's even better that I don't have to teach him, because then I only need to sit there and make sure he doesn't drown or something. And I don't mind hanging out with Ciel every day. I told you that already too! Ciel's so much more chill than all the past Dolls, so I don't feel like I need to take a break from him or anything like the one from last year."

Josh laughed. "Last year's one was like a stalker! Didn't you end up only seeing him twice a week?"

"Yeah. The only good thing about him was that he was so desperate to do good I only needed to tell him what to do and he'd do it by the time I saw him next."

"Creepy!"

"Tell me about it… Anyways, help me think of ways to get him to come every Sunday for swimming!"

On the opposite end of the pool, Ciel finally turned, starting a meandering backstroke back down the lane.

* * *

Dreamy, whimsical music drifted across the room from the speakers, directing the people inside the room with its beat and mood.

"ONE two three ONE two three. Don't forget, the first beat is the most important in a waltz! That's your anchor, your defining point for even the most basic of steps." The Ballroom and Latin instructor glided around the room, observing and correcting the many couples currently stepping and turning in the distinctive three-beat patterns of the classic waltz.

He reached Elizabeth and Josh and stared at their footwork.

"Perfect! Your steps are precise, neat and full of expression. Have you both done this before?" The instructor gushed at them with a starry expression.

Elizabeth and Josh smirked at the same time. "Yeah, occasionally."

"Keep it up!" The instructor's good mood at finding a more-than-competent couple in his class deflated quickly when he saw the next couple.

"Is this your first time?" He looked down at the small, navy-haired teenager with a kind smile. "You're doing admirably! Keep counting in your head, don't look down at your feet, and really feel the music."

The instructor watched for a few more seconds before giving Ciel a pained smile. "That's it. You're slowly getting there!"

He looked to Ciel's partner. "You're doing quite a good job, leading your partner around." With that, he left for the next couple in line. Immediately, Sebastian's quiet instructions to Ciel resumed, Ciel looked back down at his feet, and somehow or other managed to keep time.

Josh sniggered at the sight. "Ciel's so small! Sebastian's like towering over him. Which totally doesn't help them."

Elizabeth laughed quietly. "I know right? And Sebby-chan's trying so hard to teach Ciel, but he's like failing. Maybe not total failing. I mean, he's getting Ciel the un-co to somehow get this waltz down."

Josh snorted. "The dude should totally get a prize."

Elizabeth giggled. "Totally! Maybe I'll give him an honorary prize at the end of year for his help in getting Ciel to do all these things."

"Totally!"

Elizabeth and Josh continued to sail their way down the side of the room with ease, barely paying attention to their steps and moves.

"Wish we were doing the Viennese waltz."

"You just like to get dipped."

Elizabeth stuck her tongue out at her partner. "Duh! It's fun! And we get to do more with it in beginner's classes."

"You're the one who chose this. So stop complaining about how boring beginning waltz is!" Josh winked at her. "It's not our fault we're too awesome at it."

"That's 'cause our parents made us do this from when we were like, this high." Elizabeth let go of Josh's hand for a moment to gesture at a level somewhere around her hip.

"Liz, you know you liked it."

"I did."

"You know you still like it."

"I do."

"And you definitely know you're like, secretly loving all this beginner's stuff."

Elizabeth stuck her tongue out in reply.

Josh grinned. "Imagine if your mum saw you do something oh-so-unladylike."

Elizabeth grimaced, the memory of her mother last scolding at her for doing the exact same action running through her mind. She wouldn't have minded if her mum yelled angrily like other people, but Frances Midford just had to 'shout' in a quiet, guilt-tripping way…

At that moment the music stopped with a clap from the instructor, jolting Elizabeth out of her self-induced guilt-trip from the mere memory of her mother.

"Okay! All of you have more or less gotten the basics down for the waltz. Let's move on to the tango!"

Exotic, thrilling music filled the room. The instructor beckoned to his partner. "We're going to demonstrate the full routine before showing the steps you'll be learning today, so watch carefully!"

With that, the two professionals leapt into a complicated sequence that left many of the people in the class in wonder and excitement.

His hand still absentmindedly clutching Sebastian's, his eyes fixed with horror at the spinning dancers in the middle of the room, Ciel fervently wished that Elizabeth would decide that dancing was not suitable for him and move on to something else.

* * *

"Hip-hop is all about freeing yourself from your boundaries. Move with the music. Move with the beat. Move with _feeling_. We're gonna do some chorey today, but if you wanna add your own thing to it, like a flourish on the end of a spin or a few forceful pops in a move, totally welcome to do so."

Elizabeth and Josh led the cheer that rolled through the room following her words.

The young, hip dancer spun around with a smile to face the mirror and eyed her class through her reflection. "You guys ready? Let's go! And one, and two, and step, step turn. "

Rubbing his neck, hurting from the rolling they had to do during the warm-up, Ciel stared in confusion at the instructor, who had done some weird arm thing at 'one' and 'two', and then…

He looked around at the other people, who seemed to be following every action with ease. Elizabeth had already begun to do that 'do something different and free your soul' rubbish that the teacher had said, Josh was keeping up, and Sebastian…

Ciel stared. Sebastian was so _fierce_ looking. He had never seen such a scary expression on his cousin before. Or seen him move with so much power, as if he was going to burst out of everything with every movement.

Sebastian saw Ciel stare at him, and smirked before ignoring Ciel and concentrating on the instructor's actions again.

Ciel shivered and started to slowly follow what the instructor was doing. Just in case Sebastian decided to punish him later for not dancing and thus breaking his promise to Elizabeth.

And also because Sebastian was looking at him. Again. With that scary, I'm-going-to-kill-you-later face.

Sebastian smiled.

Ciel began to stumble through the choreography in earnest.

* * *

Ciel was swimming in a murky river surrounded by tall tropical-looking trees. Next to him, Elizabeth was shouting encouragements from the back of a motorboat.

"Go Ciel! Keep up with the boat! You can do it!"

Ciel doggedly swam on, glaring at Elizabeth between breaths, at her carefree-ness, at her motorboat, at her sipping on a drink and lazing around in a dress while he was swimming for his life in the river.

"Ciel! You're slipping behind! If you do, the crocodile behind us is going to eat you up!"

With alarm, Ciel noticed that his feet barely cleared the end of the boat. He sped up, his feet kicking up a frenzy, his arms windmilling wildly. His feet came back within the boat's boundaries.

"You can do it!" Elizabeth fist-punched before looking at him in alarm. "Wait, you're slowing down again! Hurry up! Don't slow down!"

But Ciel could not. His legs felt like iron logs threatening to drag him down to the bottom of the river, his arms were steel poles that refused to listen to him and floated through the water with barely a push.

The boat slowly drew forward. The stern first passed Ciel's feet, then his legs, his torso, his head, before it slipped past his fingertips. Ciel gasped for air as he tried to speed up and catch up to the boat, but he couldn't. The boat was too fast. He could only look on at the rotors at the back of the boat, seemingly laughing at his incompetent swimming.

_Sorry I'm not good enough for you_, he sent balefully at the rotors. _You're not even using your energy. You need __external e__nergy and force to rotate. Why don't _you_ try to rotate without fuel and petrol? You can't even do that! Incompetence is _you_. __Not _me.

Ciel did not even register that he was talking to an inanimate object. He continued to rant at it, before a sudden pain in his right leg reminded him of the crocodile behind the boat, raw, physical pain, twisting and tightening his leg, his world, his…

Ciel bolted up from the bed, chest heaving, hair damp and matted from sweat. Ambient light from the night sky filtered dimly through the curtains and suffused his room. His blanket, glowing white, was twisted around his body and wrapped around his right leg.

His breath slowed down as the adrenalin from the dream left him. Ciel sighed. Even in his dreams, Elizabeth made him swim. Noticing the sweat-soaked state of his nightshirt, Ciel began to get off the bed and change it.

His right leg moved.

Instantly, the pain from his dream consumed him once again. With every movement, his right leg twisted a bit more. With every twitch, the muscles tightened a bit more. The muscles seemed to shrink, stretching, throbbing. His leg was on fire. His world was pain.

Ciel bent his leg, clutching at his shirt, his sheets at the pain the sudden movement instigated, before reaching out blindly for his phone.

He dialled a number from instinct.

_Beep… beep… beep…_

Ciel cradled his leg carefully as the beeps continued until… a connection.

"Ciel, it's three in the morning. What do you want?" A sleepy voice drifted across the phone line.

"Sebastian. My leg's in pain. What do I do?"

"Which part of your leg?"

"My right calf. It feels twisted, and every movement makes it hurt even more."

Sebastian chuckled. "It's about time you got a cramp."

"Wait… what? A cramp? I thought only girls got them when they get their period. And even then, only not all girls get them."

Sebastian sighed. "Ciel, for someone who's more intelligent than everyone in the grade except me, you're sometimes unbelievably stupid. Now, tell me. What is a cramp?"

Ciel ground his teeth. Why did he have to teach and lecture _now_? Couldn't he do it _after_ fixing his leg?

"A cramp is an involuntary contraction of the muscle."

"Correct. And since everyone has muscles, what made you think only girls got them?"

"Whatever. How do I get rid of it?"

Sebastian chuckled. "It's going to be painful… but you need to stretch it. You've bent your leg, right? Straighten it. Then flex your foot."

Ciel did, and nearly howled at the pain. "It's even worse than before!"

"Yes, but to beat a contraction you stretch it. It'll go away faster if you roll your ankle."

Ciel gingerly began to roll his ankle, and slowly, the pain ebbed away, leaving behind relief and fatigue.

"The cramp's gone now."

"Now massage your leg. It'll help it recover faster." Ciel swore he could sense Sebastian's smile through the phone.

"Stop smiling!"

"… I'm not."

Ciel glared at the phone in his hand even as his other hand kept on kneading his leg, but let the matter drop.

"Why did I get the cramp?"

"Well," Sebastian fought back another smile at Ciel's attitude. "You can get cramps in your muscles mainly by either not stretching properly before and after you exercise, or suddenly exercising a lot more than your body is accustomed to. In your case, it is the latter. As you get used to exercising, these cramps will stop."

"You mean… I'll get cramps again?"

"Most likely. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to hang and up and go back to sleep. Good night, Ciel."

Sebastian hung up without waiting for Ciel's reply.

Ciel placed his phone back on his nightstand and, giving his leg a few more massages, untangled his blanket and went back to sleep.

* * *

"…due to the lagging that we found in the last prototype, we decided to switch from a three-dimensional scale drawing to a two-dimensional one. To maintain the quality, we've changed the graphics for the scale drawing to a more cartoon-y, cutesy type of art so that it's still awesome, but more retro awesome."

The woman tapped the screen with her hand, and a video showcasing the new art began to play. She kept on explaining as special features appeared on the screen, and appreciative nods dotted the room.

The video finished playing, and the woman sat down, her report finished.

Ciel rose from his seat.

"Any more reports we need to hear?"

People shook their heads.

"That's it for today, then. Thank you for your hard work."

The almost silent boardroom was suddenly filled with noise as the Family members began to move. Chairs scraped, papers rustled, keys clacked, computers chimed, footsteps clattered, filling the space with sound and motion.

Ciel held the door open for his Family, who all greeted him with a smile, and for some inexplicable reason, a hair-ruffle.

"Ciel, see you at lunch, okay?" Hair-ruffle.

"I'll finish writing my report by tonight! I promise!" Hair-ruffle.

"Boss! You're looking a bit more tan than last week! Did you actually go outdoors this week?" Hair-ruffle and a laugh.

Ciel tried to turn his grimace into a smile as he answered each member's remarks.

"Yes, see you at lunch." He twisted his mouth upwards.

"I want quality. At the latest, tomorrow morning at nine." His face twitched from the strain of holding his mouth upwards.

"No, you must be imagining things." Ciel gave up on forcing a smile, and settled for blank indifference instead.

When the last Family member left the room, Ciel walked out himself, followed by Sebastian, who had been shutting down the screens and the projector as people left.

"You know," Sebastian smirked, striding down the corridor with Ciel. "The way you always try to force yourself to smile at all those hair-ruffles and then give up never ceases to amuse me."

Ciel merely scowled at him.

Sebastian's smirk widened.

They turned the corner and entered the dining room, picking up a plate and wandering down the small buffet table, gradually filling up their plates.

Ciel eyed his plate critically. Was that space big enough for a slice of cake? He cast an eye over the row of cakes and desserts in front of him, analysing which slice would fit onto his plate.

_The cheesecake seems to fit… but I don't feel like cheese today. Maybe the chocolate mud cake? I had chocolate yesterday though… the raspberry pie looks really good, but why isn't there apple pie? I only eat apple pie. The jelly slice? It's a bit bigger, but I can crush the lettuce – it'll survive. And it's pineapple jelly too! Wait, no. There's a cream-and-custard chiffon cake over there… with strawberries… Chiffon? Or jelly? Chiffon? Or jelly? … jelly's a bit more refreshing… so jelly it is!_

He reached over to take the last piece of pineapple jelly slice. Just as his hand was about to reach the tongs, someone else grabbed it and took the slice instead.

Ciel stared before his face twisted into a scowl of all scowls. He swivelled his head, about to unleash his fury to the person who had just stole his slice…

… to find that Sebastian had already sat down with his food, the yellow jelly slice glistening in the light amongst the other foods on his plate.

Ciel quickly took a slice of chiffon cake before hurrying over to a seat opposite Sebastian.

Sebastian looked up from his meal, his eyes widening at Ciel's expression.

"Ciel, what's wrong?"

"You stole my slice!"

Sebastian smirked. "How could I have stolen it when it was unclaimed and on the plate? And when no one was using the dessert tongs and thus had prior rights to it?"

Ciel glowered. "That was my slice, no matter what you say!"

Sebastian ignored him and resumed eating. Ciel continued to glower at him before beginning his lunch as well, glaring at Sebastian all the while.

An arm suddenly draped itself around Ciel, nearly knocking him into his fork. He directed his glare at the offender.

"What did you do that for?"

"You look too gloomy! We get awesome buffet lunches on Saturday, you should be enjoying them! They only come once a week!" Ciel's economics advisor laughed, his hand absentmindedly patting Ciel's head.

Several other Family members nodded their agreement as they drifted over to their table.

"Yeah! I love Saturdays! We have meetings, but we get buffet lunch! Yay!"

"And you get to actually talk to other people in the other Divisions as well. That's so awesome." A design member said, her voice high-pitched and squealing.

"You just want to hit on hot engineers, don't you?"

Everyone laughed. Except for Ciel and Sebastian, who continued to eat.

The Toy Division's attention turned back to their 'boss'.

"So… Ciel. Where have you been rushing off to after lunch for the past few weeks?"

Ciel looked at them. "What do you mean? I haven't been 'rushing around', as you put it, at all."

"Yeah right." The economics advisor shifted forwards, her glasses gleaming. "You've been meeting with a girl, haven't you?"

Ciel stared at her in amazement. "…you're imagining things."

"What's with the pause? You have, haven't you!"

"Is that why you've started wearing normal clothes recently, Ciel? Like, you're wearing a normal shirt, without the frills and bows today!"

Ciel ignored them and kept working at his food. Sebastian, who had not stopped eating for a moment, smirked at the sight.

"Why, Ciel?" Sebastian asked, setting his knife and fork down, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "You shouldn't hide things from your Family anymore."

Everyone stared.

The designer was the first to react. "You mean… you're actually meeting up with a girl?"

Ciel sighed with a nod.

"OHMIGOSH THAT'S AMAZING! OUR BOSS HAS A GIRLFRIEND! FINALLY! HOW DID YOU MEET? WHERE DID YOU MEET? WHAT DOES SHE LOOK LIKE? IS SHE NICE? BET SHE'S REALLY PRETTY! IS SHE SMART? YOU'RE SO DEDICATED I WISH I HAD A BOYFRIEND LIKE YOU!"

Ciel raised an eyebrow, and began to work on his chiffon cake. "She's not my girlfriend," he said between bites.

"Of _course_ she's not your girlfriend. She's just a friend, right?" Everyone exchanged knowing smirks.

Ciel absently chewed on a strawberry, contemplating whether he had time for a second slice of cake. Sebastian caught his eye.

"Don't get another slice, you have no more time. We're leaving in a few minutes. Do you need to get anything?"

Ciel shook his head and stood up. "Well, I'll leave you to it."

His Family beamed at him. "We understand. Have fun with your friend! Good luck!" They cheered for him, where someone in the crowd was shouting something to do with a date and treating.

Ciel nodded. "See you next week."

Still beaming, the table stood up as one and hugged Ciel. Many pairs of hands ruffled his hair.

"See you next week. Good luck with your friend!"

Ciel tried to resist their hug, tried to go to where Sebastian was standing by the door, but they were too strong, and so he resigned himself to his fate, listening to many comments on 'good luck', 'friend', and 'date'.

Why would he need luck for a friend? And what was so special about a date with a friend? A date was just a meeting, was it not?

Still trying to figure out why they were so enthusiastic and moved by his 'dates', Ciel resolved to ask Sebastian once they had left the Funtom building.

Meanwhile, back in the lunch room, the Toy Family had just sat back down to their lunch after farewelling their Boss when the secretary noticed something odd.

"Hey… guys?"

Everyone looked at him.

"Yeah, what?" Someone said between chews.

"If Ciel's going on a date, how come Sebastian's going too?"

"Hey… you're right!" The economics advisor nodded slowly. "If it's a date, Sebastian should have stayed behind. Maybe… it's a double date?"

"What? Sebastian has a girlfriend too?"

Everyone pictured Sebastian smiling at a faceless girl, his arm draped around her shoulders, her arm twined around his waist, and shuddered.

"It's not possible… Maybe he just went to help Ciel get prepared. You know how Ciel needs Sebastian to help him do everything."

"Yeah. That must be it. No way in hell can Sebastian get a girlfriend."

Nods all around the table, and the Family resumed eating once again, discussing ways of getting Ciel to talk about his girlfriend at the next meeting.

* * *

Ciel looked around the room at all the people stretching and talking excitedly, wishing Sebastian was here to help him with whatever torture Elizabeth had thought up for this week. His cousin had dropped him off and then disappeared without a word, smiling at Elizabeth and making his excuses about how 'zumba really wasn't his thing'.

Ciel had not even heard of 'zumba' before. He just hoped it was not too strenuous and did not involve any music or rhythms whatsoever.

He glanced at Elizabeth and Josh, who were laughing in anticipation of their first 'zumba' experience. If people were this enthusiastic about it, Ciel mused, it should not be too horrible an experience, right?

The instructor walked in, a toned, fit, lithe Amazon of a woman. She grinned at everyone.

"You guys ready?"

Everyone shouted their excitement.

The instructor pressed a button, and loud thumping, Latin music reverberated through the room. She, and everybody in the room, began to move in ways that Ciel did not even know was possible for a human body to move.

Five minutes into the lesson, Ciel's muscles were already on fire.

Fifteen minutes into the lesson, Ciel was ready to collapse on the floor and not move for the next month.

When the lesson ended one hour later, Ciel was so tired his body was numb with pain and heat.

That night, Ciel woke up with cramps that wracked each and every muscle of his body. The next morning, he called Elizabeth and cancelled their swimming session for that day.

* * *

_Extra: Grell's Counselling Files, Year 2011_

_Name: Sebastian Michaelis_

_Year: 10_

_Age: 17_

_Date of Birth: He won't tell me! So disrespectful. But so cool~! I'll go dig up his files at the school office later to find out._

_Reason for visit: Compulsory senior school sessions._

_Notes:_

_I really don't like doing this. It's so stupid, needing to listen to adolescent troubles all the time. They never tell me anything interesting, only going on about how their crush or girlfriend or boyfriend are like, so amazing, or are ignoring them and they're depressed, or whatever._

_But I do need to thank the principal for making Sebby my first Year 10 kid. Makes me hopeful, having such a tall, dark, handsome stranger as my first~ I wonder if the rest of the grade is like that…?_

_No matter. Even if they aren't, I still have my Sebby to counsel for the next three years~~!_

_Anyway, on to our conversation! (Apparently some hotshot psychologist from the UK says that it's more effective to track conversations like a script, not like a recount-y, diary thing that I've been doing for so long. It's so much more troublesome… but the guy's famous so there should be some merit in it.)_

_**What do you feel about school? **__It's fine._

_**Do you like going to school with relatives? I've heard that you're close with your younger cousin.**__Answer to your first question, no. Answer to your second question, Ciel is more like a brother to me than a cousin._

_**Anything to add? **No._

_**Oh... okay then... next question! What do you like? **__Ciel. Cats. (Omgsh, his expression changed when he said that. It was sooo cute! Who knew that this cutie would have a thing for cats? It was like he had just found the most alluring red coat ever when he said that.)_

_**What don't you like? **__People who mistreat cats. People who don't like cats. People who talk too loudly about the most annoying of topics. People who are stupid. People who don't use their brain. People who don't try. People who are not organised. Tea that is served incorrectly. Cakes that have been cooked improperly. A badly made scone. Badly made meals. Little bratty kids who think they're so good when they're not and need help. Sudden sounds. Disorganisation. Dog-lovers. Lovers of the occult… (I stopped him there. Because, seriously. I don't need to know all that. Just tell me the essentials… at the same time, so many dislikes! Such a dark personality! So matching to his appearance! He is indeed the tall, dark, handsome stranger! Ahhh, Sebby, if only you weren't a student, and I not a teacher/counsellor at this school…)_

_**Do you have any issues with anything, right now? **__No. (He gave me _such_ a stare at this point. I'm not sure if he was annoyed or what, but it was so hot…)_

_**What's your favourite colour? **__How come all your questions don't link together? Your order doesn't even make sense._

_**Yes, but it's just a stage to get to know as much as I can about you before we can talk like the friends we will become. Anyway…**_

_Can I interrupt you for a second?_

_**Yes! Of course!**_

_I want to add one more to my dislike list. _

_**What?**_

_School counsellors. (No! You break my heart, my dear Sebby! You can't hate school counsellors, because I am one! Then again… I know that you will like me in the future. And I'm the one who really matters. So it's all good~)_

_**Anyway…**_

_But when I looked up at that point at Sebby, he'd already walked out of the room. He's so cool… my heart is pounding just thinking about his ice-cold, polite smile he had during the entire interview. I can't wait to schedule him in for another session soon~ What excuse should I do? Slight anti-social tendencies, which may develop into depression and low self-esteem?_

_Sounds like a plan. Ah, my Sebby, please wait for a bit longer! Our next meeting is imminent!_

* * *

Notes:

*kindie = kindergarten

* * *

**So... Hi guys.**

***ahem* I did not mean to update four months later than I planned to all the way back in September. But! As I have told some of you, I really did have 12,000+words written, a couple more thousand words planned, for the September update when! MY COMPUTER DIED ON ME!**

**It was actually quite funny, looking back on it, because I had an assignment due the day my computer died, and another one due the next day, and all I could think about was NOOOO! MY CHAPPIE! WHAT DO I DO I JUST LOST 12,000 WORDS FOR MY FIC! That is how dedicated I am to you all.**

**Anyway, since I'd lost it, I have to rewrite it. And if you've never experienced it before because you're smart and save multiple copies of everything in different places, it's hard. It's boring because you've written it before, you're trying to get what you wrote before but you can't really remember it, it's frustrating... **

**This rewrite also occured when I had major assignments due, I found a new job which uses more of my hours than I care for (but my workmates are cool and it's a chocolate bar! Sot that totally makes up for the hours and crap pay hahahahaha), and uni society/club activities that I had to help organise/participate in. So yeah. Reasons for the four month delay :D**

**Also, the reason for having a Pt. I and Pt. II? I originally planned to rewrite everything that I'd planned for it and update at the same time, but I figured you'd waited long enough. So I split it into two :) and also because I'm already at the length of what I'd done last time, but I haven't even gone through half of what I want hahaha XD**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed that, please look forward to Pt. II, and I hope you guys haven't ditched this fic yet _**

**Thanks for all your patience! Thanks to the people who have PM-ed, favourited, and alerted this fic since last time! Thank you, reviewers** Beryl Bloodstone, Ashley Antwolf, towel dry, colbub, Circus0900, Dream Glaze, i-is-animefreak, idratherbeinbritain, KaZeKaeRu1307**! A platter of smoked salmon, cucumber and cream cheese finger sandwiches for your enjoyment with a cup of Earl Grey Tea :D And thank you to my sister, who has endured a lot of ranting/false alarms/failed self-imposed deadlines/complaints from me 3**

**Until next time~  
et-r**


	9. Interlude: The Ideal Christmas

**Interlude: The Ideal Christmas**

* * *

_The word Christmas evokes many sensations in different people – the company and laughter of a family, the tearing of wrapping paper to reveal treasures (or not-as-appreciated-treasures), the solemn uplifting sermons and hymnal strains in a church service. However, these sensations may not be what those people would care to associate Christmas with. In fact, for some, Christmas is a time of dread, of being forced to participate in activities hated, of being stuffed with food unwanted, of receiving gifts so thoughtless it rather makes the whole gift-giving exercise pointless._

_If only people could plan their perfect, ideal Christmas, and actually have it happen…_

* * *

**Ciel Phantomhive**

The Phantomhives always celebrate Christmas together, with the whole family gathering at the Phantomhive estates. In the morning, we sit outside in a glade of maple trees if the weather is fine or in the Ballroom if it is not, and listen to a short sermon about the true meaning of Christmas. The Phantomhive nativity play follows the sermon before going into the Dining Room for a small lunch. Then we scatter to our various rooms in the Mansion to prepare for the banquet and ball later that afternoon.

I do not really mind spending Christmas as I have always done; in fact, I enjoy listening to the morning sermon. Although I wish the rest of my family held the same disdain for the outdoor world as I did and held the sermon indoors. I also do not mind having Mother and Father fussing over me after lunch to get me more ready for the banquet. I would prefer to spend the rest of the day reading in the library or playing chess or similar games with Sebastian, but I can do that any day, and I barely see my parents, so I make it a point to allow Mother and Father to fuss over me as much as they want to.

My two greatest oppositions to Christmas would therefore be, firstly, the whole family's insistence that I participate in the nativity play _every single year_. Everyone else in the play is always below the age of twelve, yet they insist on my being in the cast. And not just in the play, but as an angel. A female angel. My second opposition to Christmas would be the family's insistence to dress me in a neo-Victorian style ball gown. As if dressing me as the lead minor _female_ angel was not enough, they have to dress me as a female again.

I have a feeling that some distant relatives actually regard me as a girl. I asked Sebastian if he had noticed too, but he just smirked at me. Which I take as a yes.

So, in conclusion, my ideal Christmas would be if I could spend the whole Phantomhive Christmas celebrations dressed appropriately for both my age and my gender. Really, would that really be too hard to accomplish for us, the leading business empire in the world?

**Sebastian Michaelis**

I have always spent my Christmases with Ciel and his family. Once a Michaelis has become the partner for a Phantomhive, they are practically adopted into the Phantomhive's family. I find the whole occasion rather amusing, watching Ciel trying to persuade every year that no, he does not want to be an angel again because he is sure that cousin Alice or Katlyn or Zoe wants it, and failing.

What breaks my heart though, are the stories after Christmas. Stories flooding the news about the abandoned kittens at the pound, on the streets, chucked away as rubbish, appreciated for its cuteness for only a few days…

So my ideal Christmas would be if I could rescue all those kittens and cats before they were even received, and hold a cat party for them and with all the other cats that I'd rescued before, or were from neighbouring houses, or were strays just passing by. Because these cats need more love.

**Elizabeth Midford**

My Christmas right now is perfect already. Morning service at our local church, then a small lunch for only my parents, my brother and me, before we hold separate parties that night for us and our friends.

It's hard getting my group out every year for Christmas for my party though, so the thing I'd probably wish for the most would be them being able to come definitely each and every year. I mean, the only people I ever invite are my five girls, so if they don't come… I'd have to go join my brother's party. And that's just awkward, my brother having to deal with his lil' sister while trying to talk to his friends.

Daddy's asked me before why I don't stay at home by myself, or go with him and Mum. I just tell him that I don't want to spend Christmas alone and he usually stops asking. But seriously. Even awkward convos with my brother's friends would be more fun than sitting with him and Mum listening to business and stuff on Christmas. Like, I know I have to do that someday, but I'll leave that to someday after growing up and graduating or whatever, you know?

**Josh Clarke**

I always go down to the beach with my mates on Christmas to catch some sun and surf before coming back for our family dinner thing. Which is cool, but it'll be cooler if I could like, I don't know, stay at the beach from morning to night?

It'll be me and my family and my mates and whoever they need to spend Christmas with, so that we don't have to go anywhere afterwards. We'll go to a secluded, no-one-ever-comes-to-this-awesome-beach type of beach and live in beach resort-y huts or whatever. And then we'll wake up at the crack of dawn to catch awesome dawn waves before breakfast on the patio thing.

After that, we'd go to play beach soccer or volleyball, before coming back for some lunch, then going into the water or napping or doing whatever. At night, after the sun's set, we'd build a bonfire on the beach and have the massivest feast right there on the beach, with awesome music blaring out of nowhere and the food just magically appearing, and yeah. How fun would that be…?

* * *

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

As you can see, here's an insight into their 'perfect Christmas' plans for the four main characters. Josh was totally not going to be a main character when I created him - I was just gonna use him as a running joke about jocks and the 'cool group' in general... but I like him too much now to do that to him hahahahahaha so yeah!

**Also, I can't remember to save my life if I'd already given Josh a last name. So from now on it's Clarke.**

**If it was OOC, sorry. It won't last :P If you wanted to see more of the other character's ideal Christmases, tell me and I'll put them up at the end of next chappie ^^**

**Part II I'll post on New Year's Day. The moment Sydney enters the New Year! Because greeting a New Year totally deserves a new chappie :D Have fun for your celebrations for that, and don't forget to stay safe! :)**

**Thank you to the new favouritors, alerters, and reviewers! You make my day! Here's some smuggled turkey and ham and soup and other fancy foods from the Phantomhive banquet for you to nibble on. Proper acknowledgements'll be made next chappie :)))**

**And that's all from me for now~ Merry Christmas again, and I'll see you all next time~!  
et-r**


	10. Stage Seven Pt II: Sport

**Stage Seven Pt II: Sport**

* * *

The only light that lit the classroom was the filtered sunlight struggling through the blinds. Shadowy figures were seated in a circle around the room, sprawled across chairs, perched precariously on tables, all facing a person standing near the windows, reading from a pile of papers held in her hands.

"… her marks have been progressing better than usual the last two fortnights – she nearly got full marks on her trigonometry class test, and that was for a trivial mistake. For her other subjects, all her various projects, reports and essays have all been averaging at the ninety-five percent mark. Compared to her previous averages, which fluctuated between eighty-five and ninety, Lizzie-sama's definitely made an improvement."

Everyone in the room smiled and nodded like proud parents, remarking on how well their Lizzie-sama's gotten lately, and how it was expected for their Lizzie-sama to keep on improving from her already enviable academic scores.

Glasses glinting, the boy seated behind the teacher's desk nodded at the 'Academics Recorder' and made a motion for the other members of 'The Official Elizabeth Midford Fan-Club' to settle down.

"Thank you for that report. Next, what do you have on her social life?"

The 'Public Relations Manager' stood up.

"There's been not many changes in her popularity or social life, prez," the boy said with a glance at the guy sitting behind the desk, before roaming his gaze around the room. "She is still easily the most important and popular in the school, and people still love her because of her inherent amicability and gentleness.

"The only thing that's changed," he continued with a grimace, "is that she has been meeting up with Josh, her childhood friend, every Saturday afternoon to help her in the Transformation of her Doll, Ciel Phantomhive."

At the mention of Ciel's name, people all over the room frowned or uttered a curse, or a combination of the two.

"Why does it have to be _him_, of all people?" one girl drawled condescendingly, leaning her elbow on the table next to her, legs crossed on another chair in front of her. "I mean, he's so _nobody_ it's not even funny. He didn't even know who _Lizzie-sama_ was."

"I know right?" Another guy exclaimed. "Why couldn't Lizzie-sama chosen someone who knows her well and loves her?"

"You just want to be her Doll, don't you?"

The guy rolled his eyes. "Well, _duh_. Who doesn't? But seriously. I just don't understand why it has to be this little kid who doesn't even look like he's finished primary school, you know?"

"Well," the president said, "Lizzie-sama does have an obsession with all those twelve year old characters in her beloved animes, and Ciel does fit that image, being all short and young and big-eyed and vulnerable looking."

"You mean, like a girl," the guy snorted.

"At least it's better than choosing another wannabe goth like last year, right? I mean, the dude wasn't even a proper goth. _Such_ a try-hard. And still is. Like seriously, can you believe how he like, just went straight back to his wannabe self right after Lizzie-sama finished Dolling him up?"

"True that. And I've heard him say stuff like how he's gonna get Lizzie-sama to be his friend again because she'll wanna help him get cool again. Seriously? He's like, using Lizzie-sama to be cool. What type of idiot is that?"

The president rolled his eyes. "Can you guys stop talking about the dude from last year? I swear you guys manage to mention him _every single meeting_! Seriously, he's boring and stuff. Don't need to hear about him every week, you know."

He huffed once more at the two offenders before turning back to the Public Relations Manager. "Anything else?"

"Nope. That's it."

As the guy sat down, the president pushed back his glasses and stretched, leaning back over his chair, before coming back and smiling at the room.

"Now. Since we've finished the official stuff, let's move on to the next part of the meeting. This week's 'Lizzie-sama talks' are gonna be about our favourite personal encounter with Lizzie-sama. And I'm going first," he quickly added before anyone else could volunteer themselves.

"Hey –"

"What I say, goes."

"You're totally abusing your power!"

"Yeah, whatevs. I'm going first no matter what you lot say! Anyway," the president continued, pointedly ignoring the protests from his fellow fan-club members, "I remember I first met Elizabeth when she had just entered high school, all cute and innocent. Being in Year Nine, you know, you just think that all Year Sevens have to like, look up to you and stuff, and so when this little Year Seven knocked me over in the canteen at lunchtime, I was fully expecting them to apologise and stuff.

"But when she turned around and looked at me with that apologetic look on her face…" The president sighed and gazed dreamily at the back wall. "I couldn't believe how pretty that Year Seven was. And this was still when she had her hair in pigtails, (everyone sighed at the image of a young, pig-tailed Elizabeth) so it was doubly cute. And she was so nice about it, apologising and helping me up and picking my food up and even paying for it as an apology…"

The president smiled dreamily. "When I walked out of that canteen, I was so dazzled. I felt like a new man. And then, when I saw Lizzie-sama smiling at me when she handed me my lunch, before turning to leave, I reached out and grabbed her wrist. I felt so much like I was in a drama, it was so romantic feeling. Anyways, I asked her,

'What was your name again?'

And she just went, 'Elizabeth. But call me Lizzie.'

And then she smiled again before walking away…"

The president rested his head on his hand, gazing dreamily out the window. The next person nudged the president, who bolted upright at the interruption of his daydream at the laughs of the other members, before beginning her story.

"Mine occurred only a few weeks ago, in the library. What happened was, I was trying to study for my Maths class test, but I couldn't…"

Like this, the stories were told, sketching and detailing different scenes, different situations, different sides of Elizabeth.

And then they reached the three newest members of the fan-club: Bard, Finny, and Mey-rin.

Bard was first.

"Well… I don't really have a special memory like you guys. But mine'll probably have to be when I got introduced to her a few weeks back when she was talking to Ciel during P.E.* and I got to shake her hand and everything. So that was pretty cool."

Next to him, Finny laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, that'll be mine too."

"And mine!" Mey-rin smiled shyly, hiding behind her glasses.

All heads swivelled in their direction. Every eye in the room stared at them. Then…

"OH MY GOSH YOU GOT INTRODUCED TO HER? FOR REAL?"

"YOU GOT TO TOUCH HER HAND?"

"I'M SO JELLY+!"

The trio looked at the swarms of people around them in bewilderment.

"Yeah? I got to touch her hand? Her hands were so nice…" Finny held up his hand and grinned. "I haven't washed it since I shook it!"

Bard snorted. "Your hand's a walking hazard by now. So gross."

Finny stuck out his tongue at the bigger boy as people disregarded the unhygienic status of his hand and touched it anyway. "Yeah, just like how keeping a Band-Aid on your hand for fifty-million years isn't as gross."

People who could not reach Finny began to examine Bard's Band-Aid, crusted around with black, sticky stuff, vainly trying to glean as much 'Lizzie-sama essence' as they could from the unwashed skin that had actually touched their precious Lizzie-sama.

As Bard and Finny kept arguing, trying to ignore the people pulling and stroking their hands, Mey-rin was telling an enraptured crowd about her own experience with Elizabeth's hands.

"… I still can't figure out what she uses! I mean, it's like her skin's so smooth it feels like touching velvet, you know? Even after writing so much during her study sessions with Ciel and Sebastian, her hands are still perfectly smooth and blemish free! I've tried everything but I just can't get the same effect!"

The president frowned. Study sessions? What study sessions?

"What do you mean, Mey-rin, about her study sessions with Ciel and Sebastian?"

Mey-rin looked at the president in amazement. "You mean, you don't know?"

Everyone gradually stopped gawking over this rare encounter with 'Lizzie-sama essence' and listened to Mey-rin's impromptu report.

"You know her marks suddenly improved, right? It's because she's been going study with Ciel and Sebastian every afternoon after school for a month or something already. And they're really intense. We've," she motioned at Bard, Finny and herself, "tried to study with them, but it's so fast and crazy. Lizzie-sama's amazing for being able to keep up."

Finny nodded fervently. "Lizzie-sama might be the only one who can actually keep up with them, being third in the grade and all. Ciel and Sebastian fully steam-roll through everything, so that's why they're so smart."

The president whirled to look at the executive team for the fan-club. "How come we don't know about this? They say it's been a month! Probably a bit more than a month now!"

They glared at him. "It's not like her schedules have actually changed! She still goes straight home after school and everything, and we can't stalk her because it's Club rule number one, so we can't have known about it until someone tells us."

The president scowled, but nodded nonetheless. "Okay then. Remember to put that down on the schedule!"

"Way ahead of ya, prez."

"Anyways…" the president turned back to the trio and pinned a glare at Finny. Finny gulped, staring back with wide eyes. What did he want…?

"… can I shake your hand?"

Finny blinked. Instead of yelling at him, the president wanted to shake his hand? And were those… _sparkles_ behind the president?

Next to him, he could hear someone snigger and mutter, "man, the prez seriously needs to talk to a psych. Does he really need to go into like, crazy-sparkle-mode every time something Lizzie-sama related comes up? Really?"

Oh. So this was normal then.

Supressing his instincts, Finny beamed and held out his hand, with which the president quickly took and shook, before taking out a cotton swab out of nowhere and swabbed Finny's hand, before putting said cotton swab into a small glass jar and tucking it somewhere in his clothes.

"Thank you for that sample of Lizzie-sama, Finny." The president primly straightened his blazer and smiled at Finny, who was staring at shock at him along with Bard and Mey-rin. The rest of the club just snickered at the newcomers' shock.

_Briiiiiiiiing_

"Is that the bell already? Okay, guys. I want you all to keep watching and looking after our Lizzie-sama, find out what you can about her, but remember not to stalk her! And don't bother her in any way!" The president yelled as people began to collect their belongings. He turned to Mey-rin.

"You're closest to Lizzie-sama, having been introduced, and since you're a girl, I want you to make it your personal mission to find out her beauty regimen."

Mey-rin saluted. "No problem!"

He turned to Finny. "Thanks for the sample again. I'll treasure it forever."

"No problem!" Finny smiled.

"Meeting adjourned!"

* * *

Lynette grumbled as she made her way across the floor. Saturday was her day off. Working on a Saturday afternoon was just sad. If it had not been Alexis Midford who had called and asked her personally to help teach his daughter's friends, she would not have even picked up the phone. But it was he who had called her, the first-ranked fencer in the international fencing world. At the request of his wife's wishes, no less. His wife, Frances Midford, the shadow first of the international fencing world. The only person rumoured to be able to beat Alexis Midford.

Who would refuse the requests of such distinguished fencers? Especially when Frances had pulled out the guilt-trip and asked Lynette to accept Elizabeth and her friends as her pupils 'on behalf of them having trained together for fifteen years' and how she was 'the only one' she could trust to teach Elizabeth and co. properly.

No wonder she was also called the shadow CEO of the Midford Corporation, having people manipulating skills like that.

Lynette waited for a duelling pair to move further down the mat before crossing and approached a group of four standing near the entrance to the hall.

"Liz."

"Aunty Lynette! Thanks for agreeing to teach us!" Elizabeth whirled Lynette into an enthusiastic hug. Lynette could feel a smile growing on her face despite her still-negative mood.

"How have you been?"

"Good!"

"Why the sudden interest in fencing?" Lynette held the girl at arm's-length and stared at her. "I thought you never wanted to do something that weapons and stuff."

Elizabeth grinned. "I didn't, but I'm trying to find my friend a sport to do, and I've tried everything else, so yeah… besides," added Elizabeth with a look around, "this doesn't look at all like what Mum and Dad do at home. So much more calm and technical and less aggro…"

Lynette raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, because normal fencing isn't aggro. It's supposed to be more about analysis and technique and outwitting your opponent."

She looked around at the trio standing behind Elizabeth. "When are you going to introduce them?"

"Oh yeah, sorry!" Elizabeth raised a hand and bowed at the three. "My bad for ignoring you guys."

She turned back to Lynette. "This is Sebastian." She gestured to a tall, black-haired boy, who smiled politely and held out a hand.

"Nice to meet you." Lynette shook his hand, noting the strength in his grip and smiled inwardly. This boy had potential to be an amazing fencer.

Elizabeth continued her introductions. "This is Josh."

Another tall, brown-haired boy, who smiled at Lynette and said some conventional greeting. He was built more sturdily than Sebastian, looked to be more suited to ball sports like basketball or soccer than he was at sports that needed more… finesse. Like fencing. He could become a challenge.

"And finally, this is Ciel. He's the one I'm finding fencing for. And," Elizabeth added in a whisper, "don't let his appearance trick you. He's the same age as me and Josh. Sebastian's one year older and his cousin. So yeah. Don't think he's like, the small younger brother or something."

Lynette blinked. He was the same age? And judging by the frown on his face, he didn't want to be here either. He was skinny, without any of that wiry strength that Lynette could see in Sebastian. He could prove to be the biggest challenge of them all.

"Well." The four of them looked at her. "You three, come with me and pick out your equipment. Liz, go get changed into the gear that I know your mother would've given you. Come out and wait for us here when you're done."

"But what if I don't know what to do with the stuff?" Elizabeth asked.

"You really think I'd believe that you wouldn't know how to get your gear on? I'm sure your mother's taught you at least that much. And if you forget or get confused, there's instructions stuck on the wall in the change rooms anyway."

"Oh. 'kay then. See you later!"

Lynette watched her depart for a moment, before turning back to the three still waiting patiently (or not-so-patiently, judging from the expression on Ciel's face), and motioned for them to follow her.

Making her way to the spare equipment room, she outfitted them as quickly as she could before going back to the floor to where Elizabeth was waiting and lining them up before her.

"Before we start anything major, a quick rundown on the different weapons we use." Lynette took out three from a bag and went through them, detailing the differences and the basic skills specific for each one.

"Not that you'll be using any of them for now. Maybe next week, depending on how you do. Technically, you don't need the gear right now either, but I'd rather you get used to moving in them than later. So. Onto the stance.

"In fencing, the default stance, the one you always go back to, looks like this." She turned so that her profile was showing, and, curling her left arm up towards her left shoulder, her upper arm nearly ninety-degrees to her torso, she extended her right arm in front of her. Her feet separated, her knees slightly bent, her right foot pointing in front, her left foot forming another ninety-degree angle.

"This is called being _en garde_. You notice my feet? Always like that. Even when you move. And your left arm is also mostly curled up like this, but when you get better, this arm comes back down to your side. Still bent, but not up either. Now you try."

The four obediently followed. Lynette walked around them, making adjustments and corrections, a push of a foot to the side, a lift of an elbow, a turning of the body.

"Okay. Relax, and then go_ en garde_. Do that five times. And no slack _en gardes_ either. I want perfect ones."

After that, advancing, "shuffle forwards, one foot at a time, right foot always in the front, left foot always pointing to the side", retreating, "do all that backwards", and lunges, "take one huge step with your right foot, straighten your back leg, and then come back into _en garde_."

Lynette was not surprised to see Elizabeth getting everything right in one or two tries. Nor was she surprised at needing to spend extra time on Josh and Ciel. But Sebastian… he was unexpectedly good at following her instructions, nearly spending as little as Elizabeth in perfecting everything.

This class could be much less unpleasant than she thought, with two pupils like that.

And with that, their first fencing lesson was over.

* * *

"Let's see if you've forgotten anything from last class."

Lynette drilled them through a series of exercises, noting that Ciel and Josh seemed to be struggling with them while Elizabeth and Sebastian flew through everything she was throwing at them.

Soon, she had Elizabeth and Sebastian practice moving up and down the mats ("never step off the mats! It's a disqualification if you do!"), before getting them to start on foil exercises ("always treat your foil like an extension of your arm").

Josh looked on enviously at the pair, who were now advancing and retreating with a foil in their hands.

"I want to do that too… this would be so much funner if we could have a foil too."

He looked over at Ciel, who was moving meticulously.

"Don't you feel bored doing this over and over again? Five steps forwards, lunge, five steps backwards. We've been doing this for so long! I wanna move on!"

Ciel's eyebrow twitched as he glanced at Josh. "You would, if you stopped complaining and actually did what you were told to do."

"I am!"

"Then why is your foot pointing forwards again?"

"Totally isn't!" Josh corrected it surreptitiously.

Ciel rolled his eyes, still slowly moving one foot forwards, now the other, both pointed rigidly in their set directions.

"I would've thought you to be good at this, Josh."

"Yeah? How come?"

"You participate regularly in physical exercise, and thus your co-ordination, stamina and strength should be surpassing me."

"Yeah, but fencing's totally different to soccer. Soccer don't give a crap about the directions of your foot or whatever. Sure, we do training for agility and stuff, but all this technique? Screw that!"

Having finally finished this exercise, Ciel began the next exercise, the reverse of what they had been doing previously. Josh, seeing that Lynette was still working on Elizabeth and Sebastian, quickly changed exercises as well.

"You totally didn't see me do that."

Ciel ignored him.

Josh looked once again at the pair holding foils before sighing and concentrating on his own work. Elizabeth he could understand being good at fencing, since her parents were some famous fencing couple. But Sebastian as well? Was he some sort of crazy superman from another universe who was like, the best at everything he did?

Actually, Josh did not think he had ever seen Sebastian make a mistake or be bad at anything he did.

Damn. He wished he could be like that.

A loud bang suddenly sounded next to him. Josh turned around and saw Ciel sitting on the ground, rubbing his arm where he had landed on it.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Josh quickly knelt down and inspected Ciel's arm. Soon after, he was joined by Lynette, Elizabeth and Sebastian.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Lynette asked briskly, quickly looking over Ciel to check for any major injuries.

"I tripped and fell over."

Lynette looked over at his feet as she stood up. "No wonder. Your shoelaces are untied. Make sure to tie them up, okay? And be careful not to trip from now on. Do you need to take a five minute break?"

"I think I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

Ciel nodded.

"Okay then, if you say so. How are you on the exercises?"

"We're halfway through the last one," Josh chimed in, eager to impress Lynette and move on already.

Lynette glanced at her watch. "We only have ten minutes left anyway, so you wanna finish the exercise and then go pack-up?"

Josh nodded dejectedly. Lynette turned back to Elizabeth and Sebastian. "You too. Do a few more practice runs with the foil, and then get changed."

The three of them headed back to the mats, as Josh absentmindedly helped Ciel up.

"You think we can do that next week?"

"Maybe."

Josh looked at Ciel in exasperation. "You really don't care, do you?"

"No." With that, Ciel began to restart the last exercise.

Josh sighed and began to follow Ciel when a question suddenly struck him.

"Hey, when'd you tie your shoelaces?"

"Sebastian tied them for me when Lynette was still talking."

"Oh… wait a bit. Sebastian tied them for you?"

"Yes. He always ties my shoelaces for me."

Josh stared. So what Elizabeth said was true? Ciel really didn't know how to tie his shoelaces?"

"So you don't know how to shoelaces?"

"I see no use in knowing how. Besides, Sebastian always ties them for me anyway."

"Yeah, but you should know how to anyway!" Josh regarded Ciel for a moment, before briskly walking to Lynette. Ciel watched as he said something to Lynette, to which she nodded, before coming back and tugging Ciel towards the change rooms.

"What are you doing?" Ciel demanded, futilely trying to get out of Josh's grip.

"I told Lynette that you still felt a bit sore, so could we finish early and she said yes. So now we're gonna change and I'm gonna teach you how to tie your shoelaces."

"But I already said that I see no point in learning how!"

"It's just a life-skill that you need to know."

With that, Josh dragged Ciel into the change rooms before quickly changing out of the fencing clothes. Ciel took a bit longer, feeling slightly bemused by the whole situation. When he walked out, Josh was sitting there waiting for him, holding Ciel's shoes in his hands, which he handed to him.

"Now. Put on your shoes. I'll tie one and you tie the other. Just copy what I do."

Although Ciel already knew that tying a bow was hard, he did not expect it to be as challenging as it turned out to be. So many loops, so many loop-holes, so much balancing of tensions and pressures in different parts of the string.

He had always viewed Josh as just another insufferable example of the teenage population, but seeing how determined and thorough he was at teaching Ciel, a person so uncoordinated that buttons were a struggle to do up, how to tie a shoelace, of all things…

Ciel felt a grudging respect for Josh grow in him.

"Okay. Last bit. Tug gently on the inside bit of the loop to tighten the bow. That's it. And… done!"

Josh held out a hand for Ciel to high-five, but seeing the smaller boy's confusion, turned it into a thumbs up instead.

"Now… that wasn't that hard, was it? You can remember it, right?"

Ciel nodded and gave Josh a small smile of respect. "I'll try not to forget. If I do I'll just let Sebastian start doing them for me again."

"Hey! That's not cool! If you forget, tell me and I'll show you again, yeah?" Josh grinned at Ciel as they began to walk out of the change rooms.

Inwardly, he was marvelling at Ciel's smile of friendship. Who knew becoming Ciel's friend would be as easy as teaching him how to tie shoelaces?

Next to him, Ciel began to plot how to get Sebastian to tie his laces secretly without letting Josh find out.

* * *

"Ciel!"

Ciel looked up with annoyance, his peaceful lunchtime disturbed by Elizabeth barging through the library doors.

"Stop being so cooped up in here! You have to get some fresh air eventually!"

Sebastian walked out from behind a bookcase and smiled at Elizabeth.

"Hey, Sebby-chan!"

"Hello, Elizabeth. I think you should be a little quieter. This is a library, after all."

Elizabeth grinned sheepishly before apologising to the librarian, who had been glaring daggers into the blonde's back.

"Anyway," Elizabeth continued in a whisper, "you want to come out and join me out on the oval? You might as well, since you're always indoors. Get some fresh-air and sunshine, you know."

Ciel sighed and looked up at Sebastian, who nodded imperceptibly. He sighed again before getting to his feet, slinging his bag over his shoulders, holding and borrowing the book he had been reading. Elizabeth saw with pleasure that the book was about fencing terms and techniques.

"You're really getting into fencing, aren't you?" she asked Ciel as they walked out of the library.

Ciel looked at her blankly. "Now that Lynette believes me proficient enough to use a foil, I need to be informed on what she expects from me. Isn't that normally the case when you learn something?"

Elizabeth shook her head with a laugh. "No. Usually people wait for their teacher or whoever to teach them."

"I see." Ciel glared at Sebastian behind him. If normal people waited to be taught, then how come Sebastian always made him read stuff before he taught him? How come Sebastian made him do so much work beforehand?

Noticing Ciel's glare and guessing the meaning behind it, Sebastian's only reaction was to smirk back.

Just as Ciel was about to say something to Sebastian, Elizabeth stopped walking and tugged on his arm to make him step forwards.

"Hey guys. So. This is Ciel and Sebastian. Ciel and Sebastian, these are my friends. Sarah, Diana, Cindy, Mariette, Georgia, Luke, Tom, Josh, who you know already…"

Ciel gave up following the names after Josh's, seeing that there were many more people waiting to be introduced behind him. He knew Elizabeth had a lot of friends, but a group this big? Wasn't it a bit too exaggerated?

"… so yeah." Elizabeth nudged Ciel when she noticed he had stopped paying attention. He looked at her, before sighing and turned to face the group in front of him.

"Hello." Ciel said with a nod.

Everyone there replied with a nod of their own, or with loud, enthusiastic "Hi!"s.

And then everyone resumed their conversations before his arrival, Elizabeth left to join them, Josh wandered by with a smile and a greeting ("How've you been? Studying fencing? Maybe I should do that too… get on Lynette's good side and all…"), and Ciel was left to sit on the side and read by himself. Sebastian had long since left after the introductions had finished to pet a cat that had mysteriously appeared in the middle of the oval, disappearing into his own little world that only consisted of him and the cat in his arms.

Settling himself in the shade of the tree, Ciel opened his book and began to read, blocking all other sounds around him. Outside was actually quite comfortable, if one ignored the occasional bug wandering over to bother, or the shifting shadows made by the leaves on the page and making the light all unstable.

Just as Ciel finished the first chapter of the book, detailing the basic fencing techniques and skills extensively, the bell signalling the end of lunch rang. People began to move towards the buildings, laughing and chattering at inane topics.

Ciel committed the page number to memory and snapped the book shut, tucking it safely into his bag.

"Sebastian, get away from me. You're covered in cat hair," Ciel said to a shadow that was looming over him. Said shadow moved, and fell in step behind Ciel as he walked towards his next classroom.

"Hey! Ciel!"

Ciel stopped and turned. "Yes, Josh?"

"Just remembered." Josh looked earnestly down at Ciel. "I saw your shoes the other day and wanted to ask, but forgot until I saw your ribbon today." He pointed down at the navy blue ribbon bowed at Ciel's collar in place of the school tie.

"So, what did you want to ask?" Ciel asked, slightly impatient.

"Are you a Funtomhive?"

Ciel raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that obvious from my last name? I'm a Phantomhive, and so I would naturally be a Phantomhive, would I not?"

"You shouldn't be admitting it so easily, you know. People might overhear you."

"What do you mean? The whole school knows that I'm Ciel Phantomhive."

Josh laughed slightly and shook his head. "That's not what I mean. What I mean is, are you a Funtomhive, as in the Funtom Corporation Funtomhive?"

Ciel stared. Sebastian stared.

Did Josh just… ask if he was a Funtomhive? Out of all the people in the school, Josh, the soccer player, the unobservant, the easily-amused, found out?

"So are you?" Josh asked with even more earnest, seeing Ciel and Sebastian's shock. "Are you part of the Funtom Family? Are you part of the Funtom world?"

* * *

_Extra: Grell's Counselling Files, Year 2011_

_Name: Ciel Phantomhive_

_Year: 10_

_Age: 16_

_Date of Birth: December 14th_

_Reason for visit: Compulsory senior school sessions._

_Notes:_

_I was so hoping for someone as amazing as my Sebby in his cousin. But such a let-down. I mean, he was small, and cute, and _so_ adorable with his little bow instead of his tie, but he's such a brat! Seriously! Ignores me half the time, doesn't look at me, gives me like, one word answers… he doesn't even have any interesting answers! Or any typical ones! He's just like, yes, no, of course. And stares at me with a 'baleful gaze' (such a nice phrase, isn't it? I found it in some random fanfiction that one of the other students told me they were obsessed about in last session) with those big, sapphire blue eyes of his._

_Totally different to the red-brown of my Sebby. His eyes were so delish. At least they both share the same shiny, smooth black hair. Although I have to say that my Sebby's hairstyle is way hotter._

_How do you want me to like a kid like that? Although he did react the same way as my Sebby after I asked him random questions, but seriously? After only five questions? Even my Sebby took seven questions before he stopped answering properly!_

_Do I really have to talk to this kid for the next three years? Maybe I should start trying to use him to get to know my Sebby better..._

_**What do you feel about school?**__ Fine._

_**Do you like going to school with relatives? I've heard that you're close with your older cousin.**__ Yes._

_**Anything to add? **__No._

_**Oh... okay then... next question! What do you like? **__No comment._

_**Come one. Just tell me one? **__(he just stared at me balefully again, the brat. Seriously, is it really that painful to tell me _one thing_ you like? I'm not like, looking for an essay here! And it's not like I'm gonna use it to blackmail you or whatever, the stupid shortie)_

_**Ok then. Next question! What don't you like?**__ No comment._

_**Can't you just tell me anything?**__ This is pointless. I do not like telling a complete stranger anything about me. I'm leaving._

…

_He actually did leave me at that point. He didn't even tell me anything! Now I have nothing to go onto his profile except that he's quiet, introverted and a brat, which means I'll have to schedule more sessions with him! No!_

_Sebby, why can't your cousin be more like you?_

* * *

Notes:

*physical education

+jealous

* * *

**Hey guys!**

**This chappie is slightly random. If you don't like randomness, sorry... at the same time, I loved writing the fanclub scene. They're so funny XD**

**OMGSH JOSH FINDS OUT THAT HE'S A FUNTOMHIVE! :O WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? You'll have to wait to find out :P**

**Anyways. A belated happy New Year to you all! I planned to update this three days ago, but a series of not-very-unfortunate events prevented me from doing so until now. Namely, family time. A lot of it O_O and cake XD while we're still talking about New Years and stuff, if you have a chance to do it GO FIND VIDEOS OF THE SYDNEY FIREWORKS! Although I didn't go because it's always crowded and because I had work earlier and seriously, standing for hours for fireworks after standing for hours at work? I did watch it on TV and it was so prettyyy~ THEY HAD RAINBOW FIREWORKS! And I mean, rainbow. At least four/five colours were in that one firework, which is amazing :D and then there were two-toned ones, and ones shaped like hearts, and ones shaped like a lolly, and ones shaped like Saturn complete with rings and pretty colours, and the traditional firework rain from the Bridge...**

**I'll stop ranting now...**

Shadow Storyteller, KaZeKaeRu1307, Circus0900, Milly22, linyuan3, colbub, NyaNya (you guessed right! I was planning on fencing, and then you read my mind :D psychic much! ^^), idratherbeinbritain, MuffinMuffin, Angelic yet Demonic, quoththeraven5**, thanks for your reviews once again~ you all make my day, reviewers/alerters/favouriters! Now, because Sebby-chan's in shock and can't make you tea right now, here's my own (quite dodgy but still tasty!) vanilla chiffon cake served with my favourite type of tea, Earl Grey :)**

**Until next time!  
et-r**


	11. Stage Eight: Getting Acquainted

**Stage Eight: Getting Aquainted**

* * *

Josh smiled at Ciel and Sebastian, patiently waiting for Ciel's answer. Was it really that surprising that he found out, when all the signs were there? Was it really that mind-blowing that someone found out that Ciel was a Funtomhive?

Actually, Josh couldn't figure out why more people didn't know Ciel was a Funtomhive. Ciel already said the whole world knew that he was Ciel Funtomhive, and it was his last name, so how come they were still staring at him, even after minutes had passed, as if the most world-shattering thing had happened to them?

"So… are you gonna answer me or what?" Josh asked, finally losing his patience against the pair.

Ciel blinked as if he was waking from a daydream, gazing at Josh dazedly, before awareness entered back into his eyes and he frowned.

"What? What are you talking about? Of course I'm not a Funtomhive, and I'm not part of the Funtom family. They are too reclusive and exclusive to send one of their member to a public school, aren't they? If I truly were a Funtomhive, why would I be in a school like this? Wouldn't I be in a private school that cost tens of thousands of dollars a year?"

"Yeah, right. Didn't you just say the whole world like, knows that you're Ciel Funtomhive? As if no one can guess that you are a Funtomhive with a last name that's like, the same as the Funtomhives that run the Funtom company!"

At this, Ciel smirked. "No, it's not the same. The 'Funtomhive' you are talking about is spelt f-u-n-t-o-m-h-i-v-e. My last name, 'Phantomhive', is spelt p-h-a-n-t-o-m-h-i-v-e. How are they the same?"

Secretly, Ciel was gaping incredulously inside. Josh only found out because he couldn't spell 'Phantomhive'? Who knew that such a big secret would be cracked and found out by someone who couldn't spell?

Josh stuck his tongue out. "As if that little difference counts for something! It's not like they don't practically sound the same anyway! Besides, you don't expect everyone to like, know how to spell your name, do you?"

Ciel opened his mouth to rebut these accusations, but Josh continued to talk, not letting the smaller boy say anything in defence at all.

"And I'm totally not buying your whole, 'I'm not a Funtomhive' stuff, because your reaction is WAY to suss to like, make me believe anything you say. As if you'd stare at me and not say anything for ages if you weren't!"

He heard a soft laugh behind Ciel. Sebastian was grinning at Josh, hand idly stroking a cat (Josh wondered, not for the first time, where Sebastian found all those cats that he seemed to permanently be playing with or holding or stroking).

"What an unexpected turn of events," Sebastian drawled with a smirk. "Who knew that you would come up with something like this? I do believe you've managed to fluster Ciel with your words."

"Err…" Josh looked at the taller teen. "Thanks?"

Sebastian turned to Ciel. "I think it's okay, Ciel. From our weeks of association Josh seems to be an honest, if rash, kind of person. I do not think he'll put you into too much trouble if he knows."

Ciel looked up at Sebastian and sighed. "I agree… I hope Mother and Father don't find out, or they'll get all panicky and everything."

He turned back to Josh. "Sorry for misleading you. I will answer you properly now. Yes, I am part of the Funtom family. That is all I'm going to tell you." Ciel and Sebastian began to walk towards the school buildings.

Josh, walking next to them, grinned in triumph. "I knew it!"

Ciel shot one raised-eyebrow glance at him. Josh beamed down at him.

"It makes total sense for why you have like, the special Funtom stitching on everything you own! Like, I saw your shoes right, and I was full like, how come your shoes are so goodly made and with the special, slightly loopy distinctive Funtom stitch? And also your neck ribbon – it has the ribbon edge that Funtom ribbons are famous for."

Sebastian chuckled. "I would have never put you down as someone so observant, Josh."

Josh nodded with a tentative smile, trying to smooth the goosebumps on his arms, raised after hearing Sebastian chuckle. Chuckle!

"Well, I only started noticing after we went on that shopping trip and you showed us your wardrobe, Ciel. The whole place was filled with clothes with the distinctive Funtom style – well tailored, fitted silhouettes, elegance exuding cuts, bows, a rainbow of rich colours – and they were all tailor-made. The only way you can have an entire wardrobe tailor-made would be either if you were very rich, which you didn't look, or had connections. So I full went for the connections idea, and then thought of your last name, and everything just clicked."

They climbed up the stairs to the main school buildings.

"Don't worry though," Josh said to a very dead-panned Ciel and Sebastian. "I'll keep your secret for you. Don't want anyone finding out now, right?"

And with a wink, he turned and walked off. Ciel and Sebastian exchanged glances.

"… I may have underestimated his intelligence a little," Ciel murmured.

Sebastian nodded thoughtfully. "I was surprised by his observations earlier, but after his full explanation, he definitely surpassed any expectations I had of him. Imagine: drawing up a conclusion based on your wardrobe style!"

Ciel sighed. "Of all things to guess it from… and of all people to guess… I don't feel like class anymore, Sebastian. I want to go home."

"Only for today, because today has been a momentous day."

"Let's go. Write up a note, Sebastian."

"Don't expect me to do this again. And we're leaving school due to family issues."

"Yesyes. That's what we always use, isn't it?"

"Don't hope to leave school early again unless you have due reason, Ciel. Even though we've done this before, I will not be doing this again, especially when you'll be starting senior school next year."

"Sebastian, just sign the note!"

* * *

"Where were you after lunch today? You didn't turn up to any other class!"

Elizabeth glared at a sweat-dropping Ciel with irate indignation. "You can't just skip class like that, you know? It'll ruin your school record! Even if you already know all the material being covered, it sets a bad example to the younger kids! And it'll make your friends think you're too good for them if you do it too much!"

Ciel glanced up at her, all feigned nonchalance and calmness. "It's not as if I left without permission – Sebastian and I both handed in a note for it. And I couldn't concentrate, so I thought I'd stop wasting my time in class when I can't focus and just come straight back home."

Elizabeth looked at Sebastian, who nodded in confirmation.

"Well… I suppose that's better… and it's not like you've done it this year yet…" Elizabeth picked up her neglected pen and began to focus on her Economics homework again. "But don't think you can do this often, okay?" She punctuated her sentence with an especially violent jab at her paper.

Ciel just sighed before continuing to write his English essay. For a moment afterwards, the only sounds in the room were the rustle of pages and the quiet scratch of pens on paper

"... Hey, Ciel?"

Ciel glanced over at the blonde irritably. "You're unusually chatty today."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Two reasons. One, this homework is boring so I'm talking to you to relieve it. Two, I've been thinking about how you're so distant and unsociable during lunch."

Ciel flipped over a page in _Othello_ and began to copy a quote. "I feel no need to talk to any of those present at lunch, and so I don't talk. Besides, my book was a lot more interesting than any conversation topic your group had during the whole hour.

"As if! No matter what you're talking about, talking with friends is always fun!"

"Yes, but they're your friends, not mine."

"Then be friends with them!"

"I don't want to."

"But they're such nice people; I'm sure you'll like them when you get to know them!"

"That's because you're biased for your friends."

Sebastian, once again sitting on his usual couch next to the fireplace, smirked as Elizabeth became more and more exasperated. Should he help alleviate the situation so they continue to concentrate?

... No need. Ciel needed the social experience after all.

Ciel, feeling Sebastian's gaze on him, sighed at the positively evil smile gracing his cousin's face, all glittering eyes and menacing grin. Resisting the urge to poke his tongue out at him, Ciel raised an eyebrow at Sebastian, instead who laughed evilly quietly before going back to his book, still smiling in that annoying way of his.

"... Ciel, seriously, you can't be unsocial forever, you know..."

Elizabeth's voice faded into a soft, gentle buzz as Ciel returned back to his essay and began to write the conclusion.

___By arming Iago with a determination and ambition that far outstrips the eponymous character's own desires, Shakespeare reflects and demonstrates the values and ideas prevalent in his time. Symbolised through..._

"Ciel! Are you even listening to me?"

"... seen through Desdemona and Emilia's conversation in Act IV, Scene III..." Ciel muttered to himself, trying to drown out the sound of Elizabeth's voice. From the tone of her voice, she was about to snap and begin raging at him for ignoring her, and he really had to finish his essay before she did, or she would never let him finish.

"Ciel! First you don't recognise the importance of socialising, then you don't acknowledge my friends, and now you're ignoring me? I'm just trying to help you, you know. Seriously, I don't know what you're thinking most of the time…"

_... ____Thus, the interactions between Iago, Othello, Desdemona and Emilia become both applicable to the Elizabethan society of Shakespeare and to the modern world of the twenty-first century__._

Ciel put down his pen, shuffled his essay into one neat pile and turned to face Elizabeth.

"You can say anything to me now. I've finished my work for today."

Elizabeth blinked, her rant interrupted. "That's... good. So what?

"You sound as if you need to tell me something extremely important. So tell me."

"Really?"

"Yes, really." ___If I don't do this__,_ Ciel added silently,___you'll just keep annoying me until I listen anyway, so might get this over and done with._

_"Like, I've just realised, talking about all this, that I don't even know you that well. Sure, I know you're like, obsessed with olden style clothes, and that you don't like sport, and that you're really, really close to Sebby-chan, and that you're crazy smart, but I don't ____know__ you._

_"I don't know your hobbies, I don't know your favourite food, I don't know your favourite colour. Hell, I don't even know how many people's in your family."_

Ciel raised an eyebrow. "What's the point in knowing all this? It's unnecessary information."

Elizabeth glared at Ciel. "That's your problem! You think finding out about someone is stupid and a waste of time, right?"

"No…" Ciel tilted his head a little in thought. "It's important to have a good judgement on a person and to have a firm grasp on a person's personality, but there is no point in knowing these trivial facts about someone."

"Exactly! Finding out the 'stupid' stuff, as you call it, is what makes you get close to someone! I mean, if you don't know stuff, then you can't connect to them. And then you won't be able to carry a conversation with them because you can't fangirl over the same things, or you can't argue that what you like is better or whatever."

"What's the point of getting to know someone so well? Unless they can help you with something, knowing all these different people is pointless."

"As I said, that's your problem! You need to know how to socialise and connect with people in this world, and you seem to not know how to do that. You're gonna need to change that."

Ciel sighed.

Elizabeth heard the sigh, and sighed herself. Ciel was so much harder to deal with as a Doll than all her other previous Dolls. She kind of regretted her choice of trying to change Ciel, the stupid, stubborn fool, except that getting to know Ciel had been so much more fun than all the others. Even though she now spent half her time studying as a result. Which, she guessed, was better and a lot more productive than last year, where she had to spend half her time playing shooting games with last year's Doll to even make him talk to her.

Come to think of it, what was the name of her last Doll? Elizabeth couldn't remember to save her life. Not like it mattered. She hadn't seen him ever since she won the Operation at last year's dance.

Going back to Ciel, she really needed to get rid of his thinking that getting to know random stuff about people was pointless. Elizabeth nodded decisively.

"You know what? We're gonna talk." Elizabeth spun her chair around to face Ciel face-on and crossed her arms. "Talk to me."

"We talk enough already."

"Not that type of talk. Random talk."

Ciel sighed. "Didn't I tell you already that I thought it was pointless?"

"Fine. I'll ask you a question, you answer it, I'll answer it after you."

Ciel crossed his legs. "Fine…"

"Before you start," Sebastian smoothly interrupted, "do you mind finishing your work first, Elizabeth? I don't mind not teaching today, because today's subject was Maths and both of you are have already finished half the topics in this year's syllabus, so skipping a day won't hurt our schedule."

He picked up Ciel's finished essay and stood there, glancing over the work even as he continued to lecture Elizabeth. "But you need to stick to finishing your set homework in an hour to get your speed up and to fully maximise the use of your time."

Sebastian pinned a look onto Elizabeth, who gulped and frantically began to write down the answers for the last few questions of her homework.

"Sorry, Ciel," Elizabeth muttered out of the corner of her mouth while her hand sped over the page. "We'll start after I finish, yeah? It won't take more than five minutes anyway."

Ciel nodded wearily before turning to look at Sebastian, who was now staring out the window, hands clasped behind his back. Skip a teaching? Just for some stupid questioning activity? What was he thinking? Couldn't he see that Ciel'd prefer learning over answering mundane questions about trivial, pointless aspects of people's lives? Especially when it was his own life and he didn't really want to share all these things about himself to anyone? Even Elizabeth, who, he had to admit, was better than most. But still time-consuming and annoying to deal with.

Sebastian noticed Ciel looking at him and smirked, quirking an eyebrow as a silent question.

Ciel frowned at Sebastian, leaning his head on his hand as he glanced at Elizabeth, still scribbling away, and back at him with an accusing glare. _You're making me do this, aren't you?_

Sebastian smiled widely, this time accompanying his smile with a slight poke of his tongue. _It's good character development for you, Ciel._

Ciel's eyes widened at the tongue-poke, which made Sebastian laugh silently, before he sighed.

"You're having too much fun doing this." It wasn't even a question.

Sebastian's expression formed a neutral smile as he sensed Elizabeth finishing up her work. "What fun?" he murmured back. "I merely think this exercise is beneficial to you. Since it is good to have some sort of socialising once a while."

"I socialise with the Family once a week. That is enough."

"Yes, but during those times it is mostly them bombarding you with random statements and you mostly ignoring them. You don't talk to them. So this is beneficial to you."

"Whatever…"

"Finished!" Elizabeth threw up her hands in celebration. "Thanks Sebastian, for reminding me and looking over it."

Sebastian bowed slightly, before picking it up and wandering back to his couch to mark both papers.

"Okay! To start things off," Elizabeth once again turned to face Ciel, who was now sitting legs crossed one way, leaning his head on his elbow on the table the other way.

Elizabeth smiled. Ciel was such a natural poser; too bad he was against taking photos of any kind, or her camera would be filled with all his pictures.

"Are you going to start or have you decided not to go along with this 'game' of yours?" Ciel drawled from his position, his eyes staring at Elizabeth down his nose.

Elizabeth smiled wider. Ciel made such a good picture of an arrogant child-Earl from the Victorian times or something, with his pose and the antique-looking wing chair he was on.

Ciel shivered. Elizabeth's expression was so creepy, staring at him with that idiotic grin on her face…

"Anyway!" Elizabeth punctuated her words (or word, in this case) with a clap. "First question: what's your favourite colour?"

"Such a pointless question. The annoying counsellor asked this question too."

"You went to the counsellor already? I think mine's scheduled for this week sometime..." Elizabeth glared at Ciel. "Stop distracting me and trying to get out of it!"

Ciel drooped. "Blue."

"Which blue? You have to give me more detailed answers."

"The black-blue of the sea at twilight." _This is such a waste of time…_

"Hey, we both like timed colours! Because mine's the pink-gold you get at sunrise. Next question! What's your favourite animal?"

"The eagle."

"Ooh, nice. All soaring and predatorial. I like pandas the best. They're so cute!"

"I don't think predatorial is a word, Elizabeth," Ciel dead-panned at her.

"It is now!"

Ciel sighed. Why did he even bother?

"Next question!" Elizabeth laughed. "This is getting fun." _No, it isn't_, Ciel replied silently. "What's your favourite food?"

"Cake."

"Woah, I'd never thought you were the sweet-food type! Mine would be watermelon and white, seedless grapes, straight out of the fridge. They make summer the best. I mean, a summer without chilled watermelon and grapes would be a summer wasted."

"You can only get watermelon and grapes during summer though, right?" Ciel frowned. "That means you can only eat it for two, three months of the year."

"Yeah… they have all that imported stuff during the other seasons, but they're just not as good. So I have to wait for watermelons and grapes to be in season and all. It kinda sucks, but they're worth it." Elizabeth sang the last two words, already anticipating the next summer.

"So cake would be better, since there are thousands of types I can choose from, and I can eat them anytime, anywhere."

"But watermelon and grapes are the bomb! And I don't mind waiting for them anyway." Elizabeth grinned at a horror-stricken Ciel.

"Even if you can't imagine not eating cake for a day, it's good to have to wait, you know. Then it makes them specialer and amazinger."

"… your self-control is more amazing than I anticipated."

"Thank you. I have to say though, you must be the first person I've met who's addicted to cake and is as skinny as a stick."

"I'm not addicted to cake! I only eat it once a day," Ciel huffed. "That does not a cake addiction make."

"Whatever you say, Ciel!" Elizabeth laughed. Doing this was an even better idea than she first thought. Ciel was small-talking! Without needing her to drag all this small talk out of him!

"Next question! Favourite drink?"

"Tea that matches the cake I'm eating."

"So just tea in general, then?"

"Yes."

Ciel looked at Elizabeth, who was fidgeting in her chair.

"Ciel," Elizabeth began. "You can't tell anyone what I like to drink, okay? I know you're not like that, but don't tell anyone anyway."

"Why?"

"Because it'll ruin my image of being all cool and stuff!"

Ciel raised an eyebrow. Denying what she liked just for the sake of an image? Was she serious?

"Is your image really that important to you?"

"Yes! I've spent so long building it and developing it, I can't let it go to waste now! And I can't let my status drop either! So please?"

Ciel sighed. "Fine."

"Thank you…" Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief.

"So what is it?"

Elizabeth perked up. "A Coke Spider!"

Ciel stared at her blankly. "What is that? A spider made out of coke? What is coke, anyway?"

"OMGSH YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT A COKE SPIDER IS?" Elizabeth practically screamed into Ciel's ear. "It's like, the most amazing drink ever! Okay. You know coke, yeah?" She sighed as he shook his head. "Okay. You know Coca-Cola, the soft drink?" Ciel nodded. "We call that coke, yeah? So much easier to say. Anyway, so you put two scoops of vanilla ice-cream into the bottom of a mug, and then you pour coke into the mug to about three-quarters of the way. Because of something in the ice-cream, for some reason the coke gets all frothy and vanilla-flavoured, so there's this amazingly thick foam at the top of the mug like a frappucino, then the coke and ice-cream mix at the bottom into a sweet, cold, awesome drink at the bottom. And then after you drink all that, you eat up the remaining bit of ice-cream at the bottom, all coke flavoured and stuff. It's amazing!"

Ciel dead-pan stared at her.

"I'm serious!" Elizabeth protested. "It's really good! Your cook person, what was his name? Jim or something? knows how to make one too! Go try one at dinner or something! For dessert!"

"How do you know Jim knows how to make one?"

"He's been making one for me every afternoon, that's why."

Ciel stared at the innocent looking mug in front of Elizabeth. Now that he thought about it, he had always assumed it was coffee from all the foam, but there had never been any steam…

"Don't tell anyone, okay?" Elizabeth pleaded, breaking his reverie.

"I said I wouldn't already, didn't I?" Ciel said exasperatedly.

"I just had to check, you know. And you can't too, Sebastian! I know you're listening!" Elizabeth called.

Sebastian looked up, nodded, and went back to reading.

"Your cousin is so cool sometimes…" Elizabeth stared in awe at Sebastian. "He's like, superhuman or something."

"Your imagination's too wild, Elizabeth." Ciel looked over at Sebastian. "He's just really smart. But not superhuman."

"Tch, you're such a party-pooper, Ciel." Elizabeth pouted. He looked at her in confusion. Party-pooper? How? "Anyway. Moving on," she sang. "How many people in your family? Apart from Sebastian."

"Do you mean immediate family or extended family as well?"

"People who live with you in this house and is related to you."

"I see. My mother and father."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. "Mother and father? Who says that, nowadays… so you're an only child?"

"Yes."

"That's cool. I have my parents and my brother, who's a few years older than me and is training to take over my dad's business. But he has no people skills, so I'll have to help him and stuff when I get older."

Ciel stifled a yawn. This game was more interesting than he had thought at the beginning, but it was still a waste of time and completely pointless. If he could use this information somehow, then yes, it would be important, but there was nothing he could use at all. Except the business bit. He might have to look into what business Elizabeth's family was in…

"How many times do you go out a week?"

Ciel wanted to answer with a 'how would that affect you?', but Elizabeth would, and probably could, kill him for not doing this properly or whatever.

"Twice a week. Once to fencing, and once to swimming."

Something in Elizabeth melted. He only went out just for her? And her schemes? Ciel was really too sweet. He was just like those people who hid their marshmallow natures behind a porcupine shell. But still… "That's both with me though! How about with friends and stuff?"

"What do you mean, friends?" Ciel tilted his head in bemusement.

"Don't tell me you don't know what a friend is."

"Someone I talk to voluntarily, isn't it?"

Elizabeth sweat-dropped. "That's a weird way of putting it, but yeah, that's about right."

"I talk to them five or more days a week already. There is no other point in going out to talk more on other days, is there?"

Elizabeth sighed exasperatedly for the nth time. "I mean, do you go out on social events with your friends?"

Ciel folded his arms. "How pointless. I could be doing so much more using the time taken for those social events."

"It's not pointless! You get to see and experience so many different things, and you can meet up and talk to friends for ages! Don't you need to like, catch-up to them and stuff?"

"No. When I go to school with them, it's not like I don't know what they have done at school. And whatever happens in their homes is private and so I don't need to know what they did."

"So," Elizabeth tried to clarify, "who exactly are your friends?"

"If you go by my definition, then it would be you, Sebastian, Josh and the Stupid Trio, Bard, Finny and Mey-rin."

"Are they actually called the Stupid Trio?"

"That's what they told me they called themselves. Besides, they're not really friends either, it's more like they come and talk at me, and I listen and tolerate their chatter."

"I-I see…" Elizabeth sat back to digest this information. Sebastian was his cousin, and he barely counted the Stupid Trio as friends… so the only friends he had were her and Josh?

Elizabeth suddenly felt emotional. Ciel counted her as a friend? Even though he still acted like he barely tolerated her after all these weeks? Even though he sounded annoyed every time he talked to her? Even though she was forcing him to do all these things?

He really was too sweet.

Ciel looked on with alarm as Elizabeth looked at him with a watery expression. Did he say something to merit her looking like she was about to cry?

"Err… do you have anything else to say?"

Elizabeth looked at Ciel and smiled weakly. "I don't really. Why don't we go on a picnic this Sunday instead of swimming?" With every word, the force of Elizabeth's smile grew until it was back at full force. "You're okay at swimming now, I mean, you were perfect at swimming technique to begin with, but you've really gotten faster these days. So a break'll be okay, for a week."

The boy stared. A picnic? With him? Was she joking?

"Do I look like someone who will enjoy a picnic to you, Elizabeth?" Ciel demanded.

"Yes, if it's with high-class food and on the edge of a river, with perfectly trimmed grass and no insects. I have the _perfect _place in mind for you."

Actually, Ciel contemplated, that didn't sound too bad. "So… if I come, who else is coming?"

"Your friends! So you, me, Sebby-chan, Josh and Paula. Because I've been ditching Paula lately, and I feel mean. We'll all bring a small basket of food, proper food, and we can share them and yeah. You and Sebby-chan can share a basket though. I can't see you cooking or preparing food at all," Elizabeth laughed.

"Where?"

"Down by St. George's Creek, next to St. George's Park. If we meet at the entrance of the park, I'll take you. There's this amazingly big tree down there that repels insects or something, and it's really shady under its branches and stuff."

"Fine… I'll come."

"Okay! Eleven-thirty, at the entrance to the park, yeah?"

"Alright." Ciel leaned back into the chair and closed his eyes. What was he thinking, picnic? Too late to back out now though… especially seeing Elizabeth so excited about it.

Grinning widely, Elizabeth once again began to talk. "I can't wait! Haven't been on a picnic for ages! But we have to continue so…"

"Don't you have to go, Lizzie?" Sebastian interrupted, walking up to the desk and placing the marked homework down in front of her.

"What? What time is it?" Elizabeth looked around frantically.

"Quarter past six."

"Really? Then they've been waiting for me for fifteen minutes?" Elizabeth heaped her stuff into one big pile and hugged the pile to her chest. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Thanks for everything today again, Sebby-chan. And don't forget, eleven-thirty at the park! I'll tell Josh, don't worry!"

And then she was off, running down and out of the house to the waiting car parked outside.

Sebastian looked at the car driving off, before he turned and looked at Ciel.

"Are you really planning on going to the picnic? That doesn't sound like something you would do."

Ciel rolled his eyes. "You're the one who told me to never back out of a promise and do things half-heartedly. Isn't this an extension of it?"

Sebastian smiled. "You've grown, Ciel. You're not throwing tantrums anymore."

"You're making me sound like a child," Ciel said with a scowl.

"Aren't you?"

Silence. Then, "You're making the picnic basket for Sunday."

Sebastian's smile grew wider. Ciel may not be throwing tantrums anymore, but he really did have to cure his habit of changing the topic off conversations he was losing.

"Of course." Sebastian bowed slightly again, before walking towards the door. "Now, forget about Sunday and come to dinner. I hear Jim's made an extra-special dish to celebrate the beginning of the school holidays."

"But today's Wednesday. We still have school for two more days."

"That's what he said. You can ask him later."

With that, Sebastian walked out the door. Ciel followed, closing the door behind him softly. He hoped the picnic on Sunday was as simple an affair as what Elizabeth had already outlined to him. But if it were so, then what was this foreboding feeling he had?

* * *

"Ciel! Sebby-chan!"

Ciel turned towards the voice to see Elizabeth waving frantically at him under a tree, hand bunching her flowing skirt to prevent it from blowing around. Next to her stood Josh and Paula, who were both smiling at him, both holding a small picnic basket.

He sighed. Did she really have to shout so loudly every time she saw them somewhere? Was shouting really that fun?

When Ciel reached them, Josh clapped him lightly on the back with his free hand. "Ciel! Do you have to walk so slowly all the time?"

Ciel looked up at him, eyebrow raised. "I walk at a perfectly normal speed. It's you who walks too fast."

Josh just laughed, while Paula greeted him and Sebastian with a gentle smile.

Elizabeth then grabbed Ciel's wrist, pulling him down the path into the park. "Come on! Let's go down there already! I can't wait to show you the spot; it's so pretty!"

Ciel reluctantly began to walk faster. "You can stop pulling my wrist, you know."

"Sorry!" Elizabeth let him go with a grin, dropping back to walk next to him. Then she frowned. "Aren't you hot in that? It's been warmer lately, going back to summery temperatures instead of autumn."

Ciel looked down on his attire. Knee-length navy shorts, white polo, off-white cardigan… "No. I'm perfectly fine."

"It is windy, you know, Liz," Josh called from behind them, where he was walking with Sebastian. "I mean, I'm wearing a kitted pullover today. And Sebastian's got a long sleeve shirt on too. It's just you who's like, invincible to the cold."

Ciel glanced at Elizabeth, who was wearing only a strappy, floral sundress.

"Won't you be cold later?" Ciel asked.

"Nah, I'll be fine," the blonde beamed. "Besides, I've packed a scarf into the bottom of the picnic basket so if it gets cold, I can wear that."

"As long as you're fine…"

Suddenly, Elizabeth bounded forwards. "This is it! This is the spot I was talking about!" She laughed and spread her arms wide. "See? It's perfect, right?"

The spot she had picked really was satisfactory, Ciel contemplated. The tree was big without being knobby, the shade was dense but not dark, the view of the river was clear and shining, the grass was short…

Josh, Paula and Sebastian had already set up the picnic blankets and baskets by the time Ciel finished looking around.

"Come sit down, Ciel." Sebastian sat on one edge of a blanket, legs extended in front of him, and gestured to a spot next to him.

"Yeah! Sit down already!" Josh was sprawled across another blanket, smiling happily up at Ciel as he slowly sat down, folding his legs neatly next to him. "Never realised you sat so nicely, Ciel! You sit like a girl!"

Elizabeth laughed, her legs hidden under the voluminous folds of her dress, the light, silky fabric spread all around her. "Ciel sits better than most girls I know, Josh."

Paula, who was spreading out the food, smiled in agreement. "It's true! If only you'd sit like Ciel all the time, Liz!"

Everyone laughed, except for Sebastian, who just smirked, and Ciel, who remained dead-panned throughout the whole exchange.

"Lizzie!"

A shout from behind Ciel made him turn around. Coming towards them… was another girl?

"Hey, Kat!" Elizabeth and Josh shouted back. Ciel's eyelid twitched. Was this…?

"So. Sorry for the late notice," Elizabeth said as Kat reached the group, "but this is my friend Kat whom I haven't seen for _ages_, and today's the only day she's free, so I've brought her along. Do you mind?" She looked pleadingly at Ciel and Sebastian. They both shook their heads, Ciel albeit reluctantly.

He swore this was a plan to get him to talk to strangers. Was this the source of that ominous foreboding when Elizabeth first told him of the plan?

Elizabeth quickly introduced the new girl to the group, before her next words sealed Ciel's suspicions.

"You wanna sit between me and Ciel, Kat? There's a space just right for you between us."

The girl sat, and immediately turned towards Ciel. "So, your name was Ciel, right?" She smiled prettily, her deep brown hair swaying gently in the breeze. "Nice to meet you!"

Ciel sighed. He should've suspected something from the beginning. Elizabeth's schemes never were as simple as she made them out to be. There was always an ulterior motive…

He looked appealing to Sebastian. _Can we go?_

Sebastian smirked slightly and shook his head. _Of course not. Count this as character development_.

Ciel sighed again, before turning resignedly to the new girl. "Nice to meet you too, Kat."

And then the awkward silence began.

* * *

_Extra: Grell's Counselling Files, 2011_

_Name: Elizabeth (Lizzie) Midford_

_Year: 10_

_Age: 16_

_Date of Birth: September 28th_

_Reason for visit: Compulsory senior school sessions._

_Notes:_

_I have to say, Lizzie is so much easier to talk to than everyone else I've seen so far. I mean, from what I've heard, she's like this goddess or something at the school, but she's so totally normal and awesome. Wish Ciel was more like her… _

_SHE CAN'T EVER BEAT MY SEBBY THOUGH!_

_Anyway. She's such a total cutie, with her light-gold hair and bright green eyes. She's just like a doll, except, you know, she can talk. And she has the best skin-care tips. Why, when I told her I was struggling to keep my skin less dry, she told me to rub a milk and honey mixture into my skin and then wash it off with a foaming cleanser/soap specifically for delicate skin. I'm going to try it tonight. Hope it works... especially when I've heard all these stories about milk and honey being good for your skin._

_But yeah. We talked for so long that I can't be bothered transcribing the whole thing. The doctor person who said it was good must've had a lot of time on their hands. I mean, it's so annoying to do it all the time, especially when I see seven-eight students a day from all the senior classes and then from the emo juniors and then the kids who like, actually need a counsellor._

_So we talked about her favourite colour (pink-gold sunrise, totally suiting her, all pretty and delicate) and her favourite stuff in general, and then any problems in school (none, school's cruisy, especially when she's started studying with Ciel nowadays and they've helped heaps. I can't imagine Ciel helping, so when I asked her it turned out to be Sebby helping her, and teaching her… KYAAAAAA I WANT TO BE TAUGHT BY SEBBY TOOOOOOOOO!) and then her home life (close to her mum, respects her dad, her bro's good for teasing) and then her friends (apparently the most amazing people ever)… her life's pretty amazing._

_It's like perfect._

_Damn her._

_But she's so likeable I can't not like her._

_Double damn._

_And then she told me all about the Operation: Transformation thing she does with her friends, and how she started it and it's really fun and stuff. Who knew this Operation thing I've heard so much about for the past few years started with her? But it does sound like fun. Even though it's slightly like those reality makeover shows, which isn't very bad for self-esteem and stuff. But it seems harmless, and nothing bad's come out of it (in fact, some of the past Dolls or whatever they're called have become better people at everything and stuff, so it's actually done good) so I'll just watch for the moment._

_I even got to get a few Sebby facts! Like the fact that he practically lives with Ciel the brat. As in, they're never apart except for the time after dinner and before school. And that he's officially a grade ahead in school (Lizzie suspects that he's finished the high-school syllabus altogether, as expected of my awesome Sebby, who's the best in everything). And that he can cook!_

_I wanna eat my Sebby's food~ Maybe I'll get him to cook for me next time he's here and say I'll give him a mental disease if he doesn't or something…_

_Anyway, that was it for Lizzie. Can't wait for the next time I see her~~!_

* * *

_Valentine's Day Extra: A Date?_

_Ciel sat in the movie cinema, staring blankly at the screen. This was so stupid… the characters were inconsistent, one minute loving each other, one minute hating each other, the storyline was cliché (really? Cancer? What next, a car crash?) and the camera work really was horrible._

_He glanced over at the girl next to him, who was sniffling at the soppy words ('Sweetheart, I'll never let you go.' 'I know, darling, but I have to go.') and sighed. Why did he say yes to Elizabeth's pleading?_

_He tried to shift his arm, but the girl's head on his shoulder was too heavy. If he moved his arm, she'd feel it and then her head would slip. Ciel sighed again. If only Elizabeth hadn't made him accompany this girl, who had just been dumped or something. And why did it have to be on _Valentine's_ day, of all things? Everywhere he looked, there were couples, hearts, pink… stuff._

_Not the best day for a date with a heartbroken girl._

_Finally, the movie ended, and the girl got off Ciel's arm. "Thanks for coming today, Ciel. I know you're busy, with that fencing thing coming up, but I really appreciate you coming out."_

_Ciel covered a grimace from the pins and needles shooting up his arm with a weak smile. "No problem. When Elizabeth told me your story, I felt like I just had to help you." Was that what the script Josh had given him said? Josh had guaranteed that it'll make the day go smoother, but Ciel wasn't sure if he could remember everything Josh had written._

_Ah well. If he forgot, he could just reword some of the sentences he'd already said._

_The girl gave him a watery smile. "Thank you. You're too sweet."_

_They walked out of the cinema, Ciel's pins and needles-less arm claimed by the girl, who was clinging to it with all her might._

"_Where are we going next?"_

"_How does dinner at _Le Petit Snail*_ sound?"_

"_Sounds wonderful. I've always liked how it's on the harbour." She snuggled her head into Ciel's shoulder, which sent goose bumps racing down Ciel's arms._

_That… felt creepy. Why do girls do that? It was disgusting. But it was only for today. After dinner, he'd never have to see this girl again._

_During dinner, which was all candles and dim lighting and way too romantic for Ciel's taste, the girl carried the conversation literally on her own. The only contribution Ciel had to make was the occasional statement, 'oh, really?' 'that's too bad', nods and expressions._

_Which suited Ciel just fine. Because he needed all his concentration to eat the food, which was more complex than he thought and posed a risk to the crisp white tablecloth and his favourite suit, custom cut and fitted by his father and the same colour as the sea at twilight._

_Then came dessert, which arrived in the guise of a creamy white chocolate parfait, covered with a shiny dark-chocolate ganache and a gold-leaf pattern, sitting on a caramelised pecan biscuit base, surrounded by a scattering of raspberries and blueberries on a golden honey drizzle._

_Ciel stared at this wonder, before taking a tentative scoop of it with his spoon. He placed it gingerly in his mouth. His eyes widened._

_This… this… this was amazing! He quickly scooped another spoonful, savouring the flavours and textures slowly._

_The girl's voice faded into the background. The only thing that existed was him, his spoon and the piece of heaven sitting in front of him._

_A harsh _clang_ woke Ciel from his dream. He looked down, to see only an empty plate, devoid of anything except for shiny honey blobs here and there._

_What had happened to his dessert? He had only just started to eat it!_

_A waiter approached him. "Would you like to clear this for you, sir?"_

_Ciel looked at him wildly. "What happened to my dessert?"_

_The waiter gave him a bemused look. "You've finished it, sir." And with that, his plate, so mysteriously empty, was whisked off._

_The girl smiled, dabbing her mouth delicately with her napkin. "You looked like you really enjoyed your dessert, Ciel."_

_Ciel nodded absentmindedly, trying to figure out how to get Sebastian to learn how to make the dessert._

_He paid for the meal with a 'no, it's all on me tonight' protest at the girl, before escorting the girl out of the restaurant and down the harbour front to where a Funtom chauffeur was waiting._

_Not that the girl knew. She thought it was his uncle's driver coming to pick his beloved nephew up from his 'date'._

_Once they got to the girl's house, Ciel got out and opened the car door for the girl, just as Josh had told him to do in the script, and walked the girl to her door._

"_That was really nice, Ciel." The girl looked shyly down. "Thanks for coming out with me tonight."_

"_It was _my_ pleasure to spend today with you."_

_The girl turned to go in. "Good night."_

_Ciel bowed. "Good night."_

_When he straightened, the girl caught his face in her hands and quickly pecked him on the lips._

"_You can't send a girl home without a goodnight kiss now, could you?"_

_With that, the girl quickly entered her house, and Ciel wheeled around, practically running to the car._

"_Quick! Where are the tissues? That felt so horrible!" Ciel frantically wiped his mouth with a tissue, before gulping down water and wiping his mouth again, this time with a damp tissue._

_The chauffeur chuckled. "That's what happens when you go on a date, Ciel."_

"_I don't ever want to go on a date, then! And don't tell anyone you saw that, okay?"_

"_I already know. I won't tell." Under his breath, the chauffeur added, "but someone else might."_

"_Did you say something?" Ciel looked suspiciously at the chauffeur._

"_No, nothing at all."_

_The next day, everyone at Funtomhive and every single one of Ciel's friends knew of Ciel's date and reluctant good-night kiss, courtesy of Elizabeth, who had been trailing her former Doll for the entire duration of the date._

* * *

Notes:

*A real restaurant in Sydney. I went there for a school excursion back when I did French as an elective in high school. They had pretty nice food… and it was also the first time I'd ever eaten snail! Which was pretty exciting, and I thought it was ok, but when my sister went with _her_ school and tried it, she thought it was 'not delightful'. And then hated on me for saying it was good… sorry, sister…

* * *

**Hey guys :)**

**First, happy Valentine's Day! Hope your day was filled with cliches and roses and chocolate and stuff :D If you haven't guessed, I don't really buy into Valentine's Day. Why only show your love on a specific day? You should show your love every day! And presents should totally be spontaneous and stuff, not planned and dated ;)**

**Secondly, sorry for the lateness (again). I thought I was getting crappier at being on time, and now it's like getting longer and longer between every update... I'll improve! I swear! **

**You have to say though, I think this is the first time, apart from my first chapter, where I'm actually updating on the 14th. Huzzah!**

**Thirdly, happy one year birthday to this little fic of mine~ It's been one whole year, filled with ups and downs and computer crashes and sudden inspiration. And thank you all readers, for supporting this fic throughout this year, and I hope you continue to do so ^^ thanks again, people!**

**Fourthly, if you haven't realised, the Valentine's Day extra is set _after_ the whole fic. And I'm thinking a couple of years between the date and this fic as well. So yeah. Ciel's actually taller than the girl! :O**

**Lastly, thank you for those who've put this fic/me on alert/favourites :) you make my day~ and thank you also to you special people who bother to review,** Angelic yet Demonic, MuffinMuffin, goodBunnyBadbunny, KaZeKaeRu1307, SwordsMagician, NyaNya**! Here are some cheese-flavoured chocolate roses for you all! How those flavours work out, I have no idea... but I'm sure it's good. Because it's my creation and I demand that it taste good hahahaha**

**Until next time!  
et-r**


	12. Stage Nine: Socialising

**Stage Nine: Socialising**

* * *

Ciel quietly chewed on his sandwich before sipping his tea.

"… and then, it was like, what colour should I get?" Kat chattered next to him. "I mean, both the navy blue one and the wine red one looked so good. So I had to totally like, ditch all thoughts about saving up and just buy both of them! Like, even though I was trying to save and stuff, it felt so good buying them!"

Ciel calmly put the rest of his sandwich into his mouth before washing it down with the last of his tea. Sebastian, seeing the cup empty, smoothly poured more, mixing the red brew with just a dash of milk and honey. Ciel took a sip of the new cup of tea and smiled, cupping the teacup with hands.

Sebastian smirked, not without fondness. It was actually quite easy to please Ciel. Too bad it was equally as easy to annoy Ciel, or he would be a lot more approachable and friendly than he was now.

Across the picnic blanket, Elizabeth and Josh were plotting. Or rather, complaining about how their plotting was failing right before their very eyes.

"Look at him! He's not even paying attention! It's like there's no one next to him at all!" Elizabeth muttered.

Josh nodded. "And it's not like she's helping either," he added with a glower. "She's just yabber yabbering away…"

Elizabeth groaned. "And I took so much trouble going to the fan-club and asking for a volunteer to come today."

"You serious?" Josh looked at her in astonishment. "I thought you were joking when you said you'd ask for one of the fan-club members to come."

"I was originally joking, but in the end I asked them because I couldn't get one of my girls out for something like this, the lazy bums, and the only people I can ask without offending anyone would be them. Right, Paula?" She turned to Paula… except she was not there anymore.

Elizabeth made a face. "Forgot she went for a walk… awww now I don't have a witness to confirm my awesome plan," she joked.

Josh grinned. "Awesome plan? Bet it's just you using them somehow in a nice way."

"How'd you know?"

"I've been hanging with you since we were like, a year old," Josh sighed. "it's not like I wouldn't know this stuff by now…"

Elizabeth nodded, glancing at Josh appraisingly. "True… when did we get so big?"

"Err.. during puberty?"

"Josh!" She punched him in the arm. "Stop mentioning puberty somehow in every conversation! I swear, ever since we learnt it at school, you've been obsessed with it!"

"Not my fault it's true! Besides, it's pretty interesting."

"… I swear you're turning into a nerd. Who knew you had it in you to be interested in something other than soccer and fashion?" Elizabeth reached up and ruffled the taller boy's hair.

"It's because I've been spending too much time with you lot. Actually, just those two." Josh nodded at the two with a grin. "I don't know if it's a good thing or not though… imagine if my new-found intelligence actually like, made me Ciel's rival or something."

The childhood friends looked at each other and giggled at the image of Josh in glasses and a tux, getting awards for all his subjects on the school's Presentation Day *while a jealous Ciel looked on from below the stage.

"Moving on from my supposed nerdiness…" Josh said, still laughing slightly. "How'd you ask the fan-club for help?"

"I fully gave them a list of criteria and everything, and then asked them to nominate one person." Elizabeth grinned cheekily. "That way no one in the club'll get offended that I chose one person, not that I know them well enough to pick anyway, and at the same time they'll all get excited about me approaching them."

"I knew it. User," Josh accused with a snicker.

Elizabeth smiled. "I'm not using them," she said with a mock-pompous tone. "I'm merely giving them opportunities to realise their dreams of talking to me. Besides," she grinned wickedly, "I totally deserve asking them for stuff like this, since they take their time to research about my life."

"Gosh, so many excuses."

"Whatever," Elizabeth waved her hand before looking past it and at the still chattering away Kat and the contentedly eating Ciel and Sebastian. She sighed.

"Ciel seriously needs more people skills. I don't think just getting him outside with strangers is going to work."

"You just realised?" Josh raised a sceptical eyebrow. "I mean, he does the same thing every lunch."

"Yeah, but I thought being together in a more exclusive social setting would help him get out of his exclusivity and talk to the other person, you know?"

"True that."

Meanwhile, past the inane chatter she forced herself to say to get them all of their guard, Kat had begun to make her move. This was an opportunity not to be missed. An opportunity to get to know Lizzie-sama better. An opportunity to maybe, just maybe, get the tiniest foothold into the world Lizzie-sama lived in. When she had gotten picked by the rest of the members of the fan-club, she could not believe it. And she still did not really believe it.

What momentous and great thing had she done, in her past life, to be able to get this sort of opportunity?

First things first. Before addressing Lizzie-sama, she had to first make clear Ciel's relationship to Lizzie-sama.

"Hey, Ciel?"

Ciel looked up from his cake and glanced at her for the first time since she had sat down next to him. "Yes?"

Kat beamed friendlily at him. Ciel shivered. Why did her smile look so scarily predatory?

"Can I ask you what your relationship to Lizzie-sa… I mean, Lizzie, is?"

Blue eyes appraised her coldly. "What do you mean? I thought every single person at school knows by now that I'm her supposed 'Doll'."

"Yes, but you're less a Doll and more a friend to her now. At least, you are compared to the other Dolls before you. I mean, the ones before you were all just strictly during school and Saturday sport acquaintances. But she goes out of the way to get to know you better, to study with you, to spend more time with you… what's special about you? I mean – "

Kat stopped her tirade when she realised that Ciel had stopped listening to her. She snapped her fingers, irritated, in front of Ciel's face, all the while still smiling like there was no tomorrow.

"You're so funny!" She laughed loudly, glancing surreptitiously at Elizabeth and Josh, who looked surprised but happy at this new development. "You always say everything with the same expression! I've never met anyone so deadpan before!"

Ciel frowned at her before continuing to work on his cake. Him? Funny? Who knew what she was talking about now? Who cared?

Behind him, Sebastian made a mental note to keep an eye on Elizabeth's fan-club. He had heard what Elizabeth had said to Josh, and if this girl really was from the fan-club, then, inferring from what the girl had said, the fan-club were more than bitter about Ciel becoming Elizabeth's 'Doll'.

Maybe he could use the Stupid Trio to spy on them for him, since they had joined the fan-club already…

He glanced at Kat, who was now shooting questions at an increasingly-annoyed Ciel, steadily working through his cake slice.

"What do you do with her after school?"

"Do you think she's perfect?"

"She's perfect, isn't she?"

"Apart from the Saturday sport and the after school sessions, what else do you do with her?"

"She bought your entire wardrobe, didn't she? I mean, you wouldn't have enough taste to put together such a nice outfit anyway. How much did she spend on _you_?"

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. Was it time to interrupt their conversation? After all, the girl was not even waiting for answers to her questions, and Ciel was not going to answer them in any case, which made their whole exchange useless and a waste of time. Besides, the one to deal with an annoyed Ciel later was not her, it was him.

And hell knows how hard it was to deal with an extremely unhappy Ciel.

"Excuse me, Kat." Sebastian smoothly sat down between the two, shielding Ciel from Kat's view. Kat glared at him. "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I'm afraid I cannot reach the serviettes from where I was sitting. In fact, I can't reach anything except for the tea from where I was previously sitting, and so I hope you don't mind me sitting here from now on."

Feeling Elizabeth's gaze on her, Kat forced herself to smile.

"Of course I don't mind."

"Thank you for your consideration." He nodded his head slightly, before turning towards Ciel, effectively blocking Kat from any interaction with the two.

Elizabeth groaned.

"I knew it," she hissed at Josh. "The minute he looked at Kat funny, I knew he was going to do something to exclude her."

Josh nudged her with an elbow. "Don't go all psychological on me now! You spend way too much time with them, I swear."

"I know… but I kinda like it. They're cool people." Elizabeth grinned up at Josh before nudging him back. "Besides, I'm spending a lot more time with you too, idiot."

Josh laughed. "What do you mean? I always get roped into doing your Doll stuff every year anyway! Because I'm just that awesome." He swept a hand through his hair and struck a pose.

"Yeah right," the blonde scoffed. "Stop self-inflating your ego already."

A sudden screech turned their attention towards the trio sitting on the opposite side of the picnic blanket. Ciel was standing up, and since Kat had a spreading stain across the front of her top and a nearly empty teacup, presumably he had accidently knocked into her as he stood up…

Sebastian handed her a batch of tissues. "I'm sorry about that. I'm sure you can get that stain out somehow."

Kat held the tissues to the stain, glaring at Ciel all the while. "Can't you be more careful?" she yelled. "This is my favourite top!"

Ciel looked down his nose at her. "I'm sorry? You can always get another shirt."

Kat nearly threw up her hands in despair. "You can't just get a new top! It takes more time for that!"

"As I said, I'm sorry." Ciel turned to Elizabeth and Josh. "I'm sorry, but I need to go. Thank you for inviting me to this picnic. It was quite enjoyable." He bowed slightly at the pair before turning on his heel and walking away.

"Do you think you could give us the basket tomorrow? We really do need to go, but we don't want to disturb you…" Sebastian smiled at Elizabeth.

"Sure thing. See you tomorrow!"

"See you, Elizabeth, Josh." He turned to Kat. "Nice meeting you, Kat. See you next time."

"Bye." Kat muttered sullenly, still dabbing at the stain.

With that, Sebastian strode towards where Ciel was waiting for him on the top of the slope, and soon the two had disappeared.

Josh looked around, and whistled softly. "Wow… look at how much they ate!" Elizabeth looked as he directed. Her mouth dropped open.

The plates all around where Ciel had been sitting were all empty, practically gleaming with cleanliness. The only thing that proved that food had been sitting on the plates before were a few miniscule crumbs dotting the plates here and there.

"Who know he could eat so _much_?" Elizabeth whispered with awe. "I mean, we didn't bring much each, but put together, that's still quite a lot."

"Yeah…"

Kat looked up from dabbing at her shirt and seemed to realise that she was alone with Elizabeth and Josh. Her eyes gleamed. Her face began to beam.

Elizabeth sighed softly before putting on a smile. "Thank you for coming out today, Kat. Even though the picnic was short, I hope you enjoyed it."

"Of course! And this picnic wasn't short at all! It was lovely! Thank you for letting me come!"

The blonde stuck one perfect, manicured hand out. "Unfortunately, our agreement ends here. Hopefully there'll be more chances for me to ask the fan-club for a favour."

"We'll definitely help you, Lizzie! We'll do our best to fulfil whatever you want us to do!" Kat reverently shook Elizabeth's hand, before standing up with a smile.

"See you, Kat!"

"Bye, Lizzie! Bye, Josh! Nice meeting you!"

Josh waved a lazy hand, and soon Kat had disappeared from sight as well.

"She was sure happy at the end," Elizabeth commented. "She looked so pissed talking to Ciel before."

"Probably all wrapped up about how she got to shake hands with you now," Josh said with a grin.

"You're right." Paula sat beside them with a slight _oof_. "I saw her just before I came back down. She looked like she had just won a million or something." She grabbed a sandwich and bit into it hungrily. "These are so good!"

Elizabeth grinned. "At least I made someone happy today."

Josh laughed. "The wrong person! You were supposed to make Ciel happy and social and stuff, weren't you?"

"It worked! Kinda… at least I got him out of the house because of an outing for a few hours, right?"

Paula giggled and swallowed the rest of the sandwich. "Think you need to actually give him lessons on social skills though. I passed them on my way back too, and Ciel looked bored."

Elizabeth sighed and picked up a cupcake. "I'll think about it when I get home..." she said before beginning to lick the icing off the top.

* * *

"Liz? You ready to talk?"

Elizabeth, who had been doing her homework on her bed, leapt up and back against the headboard quickly.

"Yes! Totally ready!"

Paula looked amused. "You're just trying to get out of your homework, aren't you?"

Elizabeth made a face. "It's so boriiiiing," she whined. "And I didn't get to finish my English comprehension the other day because me and Ciel and Sebastian spent too much time talking over the play and analysing and stuff. And I hate doing comprehension."

Paula sat on Elizabeth's wheelie chair and shrugged. "No pity from me." She spun around, still shrugging.

"You're so mean!" Paula turned around and got a pillow to her face.

"Workplace harassment!" The maid-slash-best-friend laughed, hugging the pillow.

Her mistress rolled her eyes in mock irritation. "That wasn't harassment! That was more like an example of violent love…"

"In your dreams…"

"Moving on…" Elizabeth coughed. "Anyways, we need to talk about how to help Ciel with his social skills. He was terrible today. He just flat-out ignored the girl."

Paula smiled and rested her chin on the pillow in her arms. "Maybe he just found the whole conversation boring?"

"The whole point of conversation is to talk and share opinion. With brains like his, he could have changed the topic into one he does care about easily enough."

"He's too indifferent; why would he bother?"

"He's going to fail at life! I can't let that happen! Where's my notepad?" Elizabeth rummaged through the papers strewn across her bed before giving up and flipped over her comprehension booklet. "I don't really need this after today…"

Paula looked on with amusement. The more time Elizabeth spent with Ciel, the more she cared for his wellbeing. At the beginning, she had only picked him for being the 'cute little boy' he was, but now…

The maid smiled happily. _It's good to get Elizabeth to widen her own circles more. _She watched as her mistress began to go through her blanket looking for something yet again. _She only really hangs out with her girls and Josh. Seeing her make another proper friend and not another minion is good for her._

A shout of 'where's my pen?' distracted Paula from her musings. The school's most popular girl was now frantically searching through everything on her bed for her pen, hair ruffled, expression annoyed.

Paula sniggered. Imagine if the school saw her now, the image of perfection getting all panicked over a lost pen… which happened to be stuck behind the said image of perfection's ear.

"If I may intrude oh-so-rudely, Miss Elizabeth," Elizabeth looked up at the overly formal address, protests already forming in her mind about how Paula wasn't just a maid, "The object you're looking for happens to be stuck behind your ear."

"Oh…" Elizabeth sheepishly untucked the pen from behind her ear as Paula laughed quietly. "You can stop laughing now…"

"Yes, of course." Paula's face straightened out immediately, the occasional twitch betraying her amusement.

"Anyways!" Elizabeth clapped her hands together before putting her pen to paper. "I need to make a list of what to teach Ciel! And the first thing I need to do is to tell him how to speak appropriately to other people. I mean, he reacts just fine."

Paula nodded in agreement. "He knows how to react to strangers in totally impersonal situations, like introductions and stuff. He's just really silent through it all. And then he gets all irritated and stuff when it's someone he does know well. Have you seen him talk to the Stupid Trio, or whatever they've named themselves?"

"I know what you mean… it's like he turns into an adorable, but very prickly porcupine…"

"Yeah…"

Elizabeth and Paula looked gloomily at each other and sighed simultaneously.

"This is going to be so hard… Maybe get him to memorise standard phrases to say occasionally?" Doubt laced through Elizabeth's words.

"Maybe. And get him to get used to nodding?"

Elizabeth began to write. "How about teaching him how to react in a more friendly way? Like actually smiling?"

Paula laughed. "Don't forget…"

* * *

Ciel shivered looked up from his ideas and plans for the Funtomhive plans. What was that feeling…? He had never felt anything this creepy before… was this what they called 'someone walking over his grave'?

At that moment, a strong breeze blew the curtains away from the window. Ciel's skin immediately goose bumped.

_The feeling just then was probably just the breeze then_, Ciel thought as he stood to close the window. _It's getting colder every day now…_

But the feeling still niggled at the back of his mind.

* * *

It was when they were working on their Maths work that Elizabeth struck.

"So… Ciel, what did you think about the picnic yesterday?" The blonde asked casually as she wrote an answer down into her exercise book.

Ciel quickly typed a series of numbers into his calculator. "It was enjoyable enough. Please pass on to Paula and Josh that the food was excellent."

Elizabeth pressed her lips together. Was he _really_ that indifferent to everything that needs interaction with another person? "I'll pass on the message for you."

"Thank you." Silence once again filled the room.

Red-brown eyes regarded the working pair over the top of _The Complete Shakespeare Sonnets _from the couch. Was this a new plan of Elizabeth's to get Ciel to become more socially adept? Sebastian knew Elizabeth would regard the picnic as a failure of epic proportions, since the only thing Ciel did at the picnic was eat and drink tea. If she was trying to teach Ciel social skills, Sebastian was only too happy to give her free reign.

After all, Ciel could not rely on his 'boyish charms', as one doting grandparent had remarked recently, for the rest of his life.

However, if this was going to affect her work…

Sebastian regarded the pair for a little longer before returning back to his sonnets. It was too early to tell if she was getting too distracted from her work. He would wait a bit longer, maybe until they finish their exercises, before passing judgement.

And so he returned to his _Sonnets_, since, to his estimation, they would be finished in fifteen, twenty minutes anyway.

And sure enough, they were, handing over their answers for him to check, to mark, to comment on.

Ciel got nothing wrong, as expected. Sebastian had trained him until the younger boy could work at full capacity in the most distracting situations.

Elizabeth was fine, making only a few mistakes, until the last couple of pages or so, where the answers quickly became slashed and circled with bright red ink.

Sebastian handed the papers back; his two temporary pupils looking through them with a rustle of paper. And then...

"How come I got so much wrong? I'm sure I put it into the calculator properly! And I know what I'm doing as well!"

"You began to talk to Ciel around here, I believe," said Sebastian dryly. "And you're easily distracted from your task; much more so than Ciel."

Elizabeth pouted, before looking over Ciel's shoulder at his paper, where no angry red marks interrupted the smooth, blue-ink covered paper.

"How come Ciel's is so perfect?" Elizabeth huffed and slouched into her seat. "He was talking to me too!" She crossed her arms in indignation.

"I've trained him so that he doesn't get distracted from his work even if a drill was operating in the room." Sebastian smirked at the girl. "You need to train up your tolerance to distractions as well as your multitasking ability.

"So. Keep talking to Ciel as much as you want," Sebastian smoothly continued. Elizabeth's mouth dropped open. "But I expect you to concentrate just as much on your work when you are talking as you do when you don't talk, and I expect your answers to get back to its previous accuracy. If not, we'll have to embark on some special training."

"What?" Elizabeth's mouth continued to gape. "So you're just gonna let me talk? That's so weird! Wouldn't you tell me not to talk, usually? Normally?"

Sebastian nodded. "Yes, but I know you can get nearly a hundred percent normally, so why would I insist on stopping your talking? Especially when it will help you?"

The blonde frowned. That actually made sense, in a weird logic-y way.

"You can't let your speed slide either, Elizabeth." Sebastian looked down his nose at the girl. "Even though accuracy is important, your speed is equally as important. If you let that go as well, we'll need even more training for you."

Green eyes glared at Sebastian. "I won't be that bad, will I?" Elizabeth said snarkily. "I'm not as good as Ciel at speed and stuff, but at least I can keep up now, and I'm getting better at it every day. Gosh! Way to make a girl happy, Sebby-chan."

Sebastian, who was now rolling out the whiteboard for the day's lesson, raised an eyebrow at the remark and shrugged slightly in response. Elizabeth waited expectantly for a reply, but the taller teen only pulled out a whiteboard marker and began to teach.

Even as she began to copy down the notes, Elizabeth felt as if Ciel was only so socially inadequate because his main role-model had such fluctuating manners. Sometimes, Sebastian was perfectly polite, but mainly…

Just as bad as Ciel, except more chatty.

Seriously.

_I'll show you_, Elizabeth fumed silently. _I'll show you I can be as good as Ciel, as fast as Ciel, as accurate as Ciel, and still teach him all that social stuff. What can you say then, huh? HUH?_

In the midst of explaining a complex theory, Sebastian noticed Elizabeth's expression and smiled to himself. If what he had said before really did work, then her progress after today would be astounding.

Which was nothing less than what he expected from his students. After all, he was their teacher, and he was one HELL of a teacher.

* * *

"For the last three or four weeks, Lizzie-sama's progress has been astounding," the Academics Recorder reported to the Fan-club. "Ever since the picnic that you went to, Kat," the girl nodded in acknowledgement, "it's as if she had been spurred on to become an even better student than before. She was perfect already, getting averages of above ninety, but now her lowest average, which is still Maths, is a very high ninety-five. And everything else has an average of ninety-seven, ninety-eight."

The room's occupants grinned in response at this exciting piece of news, giving each other silent high-fives and claps on the back.

The president, ever-present behind the teacher's desk, smiled at the news. He always knew Lizzie-sama was the best, but this… made her even more precious and special.

When most of the silent celebrations had died down, he nodded at the Recorder to continue.

"If she keeps this progress up, she might be able to fight for second with Ciel Phantomhive, who has an average of ninety-nine and above across his subjects. I would love to say she could fight for first with Sebastian Michaelis, but unfortunately his average is over one hundred, which isn't supposed to even be possible, so I guess no one, not even Lizzie-sama, can ever compete with him."

The Academics Recorder sat down.

"Thank you for that report," the president said with a small nod. "Is there anything else to report?"

Kat, who had been promoted to the newly created 'Doll-Watcher' after her encounter with Ciel, stood up.

"Ever since you created Doll-Watcher and put me in that role, I've been diligently observing Ciel's behaviour for any changes. Ever since Ciel got dragged out by Lizzie-sama to sit outside with her friends, he's always sat on the side with Sebastian reading a book and generally ignoring any other person in his vicinity.

However, for the past couple of weeks, I've seen him greet some of Lizzie-sama's group. Mainly Josh Clarke, who we know helps Lizzie-sama with her Doll Operation, but other instances, it's the other members of the group."

The room began to buzz with speculation.

"I can't find out why," Kat continued, "but I'm sure it's a new stage of the Transformation." She sat back down.

The president nodded thoughtfully. "After you gave us that proof of Elizabeth really spending more time with Ciel than the other Dolls, I'm sure this is an advanced stage of his Transformation that never even happened with the other Dolls. After all, Ciel is the Doll that Elizabeth has most favoured since the Operation started, and so this is to be expected, I guess…"

On the other side of the room, Finny began to whisper to Bard and Mey-rin.

"Though Ciel said this was because Lizzie got all pissed and stuff at him ignoring Kat at the picnic?"

Mey-rin nodded before giggling. "Maybe the fan-club's in denial about how Ciel's not just a Doll but a friend to Lizzie. I mean, they're so jealous of Ciel!"

Bard nodded sagely. "I think," he said past his cigarette-replacing piece of wheat, "that even though the fan-club is fun and stuff, they kinda need to stop putting Lizzie and everything to do with her onto such a high pedestal that they won't dare reach it, and then getting all angsty when someone they don't know and expect, like Ciel who's so, you know, uncaring and stuff, actually does reach and join Lizzie on her pedestal."

Mey-rin and Finny looked at Bard in awe.

"That… was really cool!" Finny exclaimed, having all but forgotten about the meeting he was still in.

Mey-rin nodded fervently. "You said it so nicely! Wish I could do something like that…"

Bard puffed out his chest proudly. "Heh, of course I can! Don't underestimate the Bard!"

Finny and Mey-rin began to clap, until a sharp cough from the president interrupted their conversation.

"If you three don't mind," a glare from behind shining glasses, "we want to finish off the reports already."

All three sat facing the president, knees together, and began to scratch their heads simultaneously.

"Sorry…"

The president gave them one more glare before turning back towards the latest reporter, and soon the room was silent again, listening to the latest update on their beloved Lizzie-sama.

* * *

Elizabeth sat in her usual spot under the tree, legs stretched in front of her, and looked at Ciel, sitting under the next tree over. He was reading yet another thick, small-printed book, with Sebastian playing with yet another stray cat next to him.

The girl sighed. She had not gone to all the trouble of dragging Ciel out of the library to hang with her group only for him to keep reading his incomprehensible books.

"Hey, Mari?" Violet eyes met green.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think about Ciel?"

Mariette looked at the sky. "I don't really know…" she said softly. "It's like, he was just some smart kid in our year, then you chose him, and made him all that, and then now he sits with us, but not really? He's always doing his own thing, and only nods at us…"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "I swear your voice is getting softer every day. It was soft already!" Mariette made a face, which the blonde ignored. "I meant, what do you think of him, impression wise? And recent impressions, not the ones from the day you knew of his existence."

Mariette pouted. "If you put it that way, it was awkward when he just came, and we all formed some sort of opinion about him, but because he's always just there, never talking, never even listening, it's like he's become part of the scenery."

Elizabeth nodded absently at her friend's analysis, eyes straying back to Ciel in slight despair. He was regarded as part of the scenery! Obviously she had to work harder at his mingling skills, at least until the others began to see him as the quiet member of their group, not just the scenery…

"If it helps," Mariette continued, Elizabeth nearly missing the start of her comment, "I find him very comfortable to be around."

In the background, Ciel read on, immersed in the various tactics used in fencing, oblivious to the sighs of a certain blonde despairing over Ciel's status as a comfortable wall-flower.

* * *

"Okay! Five minute break!"

Elizabeth and Sebastian lowered their foils and bowed at each other before taking of their helmets and walking over to the side. Lynette nodded with approval. The first priority of a fencer was not footwork or technique, but respect for the opponent.

As the two began to discuss their spar, the trainer looked over to the side, where two people were practising their lunges with a foil, and nodded with approval once again. Although they were not as advanced as Elizabeth and Sebastian, who were veritable genii, Josh and Ciel were making solid progress. Slow progress, but solid.

"Josh! Ciel!" Lynette called. "Take five minutes break!"

The two immediately collapsed on the spot, Lynette smiled before a question from Elizabeth turned her attention away from the two.

Ciel leaned back on his hands and looked at Josh, who was lying down on the floor.

"Don't you play football?" Ciel panted, wiping away the sweat on his forehead. "Your stamina should be a lot better than mine."

Josh made a face. "I'm not tired tired, but my muscles hurt like hell right now."

Ciel raised a tired, sceptical eyebrow. Josh interpreted the look and smiled, looking at the ceiling.

"It's just that my muscles can't like, get used to these motions and these actions. I swear fencing uses a different group of muscles or something. But it's getting better. Like, they don't hurt as much anymore."

Ciel reached for his water and rolled his eyes in response. Josh caught the action and sat up, laughing loudly.

"That's the first time I've seen you roll your eyes! You never roll your eyes! You just stare at people! Or raise your eyebrow! I feel like I've won some award, or like, been able to see something totally rare or something!"

Ciel deadpanned him. "It's not that special. I've done it before."

"Not in front of me, you haven't," Josh huffed. "Anyways, you should say something cool and nice or something, like, I don't know, something like 'Aha! It's because of your influence!' or something."

The smaller boy groaned. "You sound just like Elizabeth. Lately, she's been saying things like that every day when we studying. And even though it doesn't affect my working abilities, some of the things she says is disturbing and mind-chilling."

Josh frowned, grabbing his own water and gulping the water. "What do you mean?" he said, wiping his mouth with a hand.

The CEO of the Toy Division leaned forward and, bending one leg, draped an arm across it, resting his chin on his arm. Josh nearly missed Ciel's words at his surprise that Ciel's 'natural posing' ability, or whatever Liz had called it, actually existed.

"Lately, Elizabeth keeps talking and mentioning ways of making other people want to start a conversation, such as mentioning trivial matters, or asking after someone's well-being and then offering some personal information after the other person's answer. I have to confess, I don't see any point in these pointless exercises at all."

"It's good!" Josh protested. "These are ways of being able to interact with people smoothly and comfortably! Which you totally don't do! And it's important! I mean, how are you supposed to do stuff as a Funtom CEO person if you're totally not sociable?"

Ciel scowled. "I can react perfectly fine in a business situation like that. Besides, most of the time the other parties are from Funtom, and therefore are family anyway."

"It's not just about business, you know." Josh began to adopt a lecturing tone. "And family, in a business situation, is not just family anymore. You need to treat them as a business partner. And to run a successful business, or to maintain a business venture, you need to be able to interact with other people in social contexts, such as dinners, dances, performances, and the like. The boss can't rely on other people – these relationships have to be maintained by the boss himself, or otherwise the relationship will fail. You can look at history to find examples; the main partnerships that occur between feuding countries are the marriages between princes and princesses…"

Ciel stared slightly at Josh's monologue. Who knew the soccer maniac, who only payed the barest of attentions during class, could give a lecture? And a business one, at that.

Josh noticed Ciel's stare. "What?" he demanded, returning that blue stare with one of his own.

"I was merely surprised that you had so much to say about a subject that you have never displayed interest in."

The brunette grinned. "That was one of the lectures that my dad gave me heaps, and so it's like, tattooed to my head or something."

"I see."

"You don't see, do you?" Josh looked at Ciel suspiciously. Then he brightened up. "What else has Liz been telling you?"

"Ways to act more elegantly."

The football player laughed at the resigned expression on Ciel's face. "You got the teacup lecture, didn't you?"

Ciel nodded. Josh roared with laughter. Ciel glared.

"It's not funny." The navy-haired teenager said heatedly.

"It is! Because I've gotten it before too! And it's so like, small, but she gives it so much attention! I mean," Josh wiped tears from his eyes. "Who gives a crap if your teacup clinks against your saucer anyway? As if putting your pinkie down before your teacup is that important!"

Ciel sighed. "I agree. And as I said, most of my business meetings are with other Funtom Families. It doesn't matter whether my teacup clinks or not."

Josh grinned. "You never know! Some future business might just get all impressed by your soundless teacup putting down skills and totally like, give you the best deal in your life, and then make Funtom their main thing or something!"

"Josh," Ciel began seriously, "I seriously think Elizabeth's wasting her time teaching me these things. Including the teacup and other etiquette lessons."

"I've said it before," the jock sighed exasperatedly. "You can't rely on your connections forever, Ciel – "

"Rely on what connections?" a voice enquired behind them. The two slowly turned around. Lynette was standing there, arms crossed, expression fierce.

"I said you could take a five minute break. It's been nearly ten. What do you think you're here for?" Lynette asked quietly, killing intent rolling behind every word.

"To fence?" they responded meekly.

"Then WHY AREN'T YOU DOING IT? DON'T WASTE MY TIME HERE, YOU TWO!"

Ciel and Josh jumped up hurriedly, throwing their bottles to the side, Ciel a bit less successful than Josh, and began to practise their drills once more.

Lynette sighed. Yelling at people was such a waste of energy. Why couldn't people just keep to time limits or just follow her instructions? She had told them before to move onto the new stepping sequence after their lunging practice, yet here they were, still lunging away…

And without their foils.

The idiots.

"You two," Lynette began. The two teenagers looked over apprehensively. "What's the point of me putting you on foils when you don't even use them?"

Ciel and Josh looked at their empty hands, and then the ground next to their feet, before sheepishly picking them up to start lunging again.

"Now… let me see the new step sequence," Lynette reminded them subtly, resignedly, and began to analyse their movements critically.

* * *

The next Monday, Ciel prepared himself for yet another barrage of unwanted advice from the blond girl, readying his mental shield for yet another attack of words and misguided directions.

Silence.

Ciel stared at his paper, shocked at the silence of the room. No meaningless chatter, no pointless talk about the ideal angle to rest his cutlery against his plate.

What was happening?

He cautiously peered at Elizabeth from the corner of his eye. She seemed to be rummaging through her bag, perhaps trying to find an object that will give him even more torture and annoying-ness, if that was a word.

Just as Ciel had begun to work, enjoying the rare, peaceful, silent atmosphere of the room, something colourful and brightly lit was waved under his nose.

Ciel turned and glared at Elizabeth, who stuck her tongue out at him before snapping his photo with her phone.

"Aww… you had such a glare in this photo! So cute!" She ruffled Ciel's hair. "So… I took the photo because I don't have any of you yet, and also because I want to set it as your contact photo. But then I realised I don't have your number. So…" Elizabeth looked at Ciel expectantly.

The navy-haired boy sighed. Was this another of her infernal tests? Was he expected to answer it? He glanced at her face, still expectantly waiting, and sighed yet again.

"I don't know my number. Ask Sebastian for it."

Elizabeth frowned. "What do you mean? It's your number. How can you not know it but Sebastian knows?"

Ciel returned to his work. "He keeps my mobile phone for me. I have no use for it, and thus I entrusted its use to him."

"What? You can't just give someone your phone and expect them to do everything for you! Besides, if you don't have your phone with you, I won't be able to reach you!"

Ciel ignored her. She pouted, and flounced over to where Sebastian was sitting, reading now an annotated version of _Twelfth Night_ and asked for Ciel's number. Sebastian smiled and gave it to her, before looking at Ciel and smirking.

Knowing Elizabeth, she would now talk to Ciel about the importance of a phone.

And she did, launching into yet another lecture about phones and why it should always be carried in person.

Sebastian smiled before returning to the play. Elizabeth's progress was slow, but it was getting there, her multitasking abilities. And her accuracy had improved as well.

And so, with these reflections, the black-haired teenager immersed himself in the play, ignoring the two who had begun to argue over the virtues and vices of a mobile phone.

"… Do you even know how to use a phone?" Elizabeth demanded hotly. "You don't, do you? That's why you're so fired up about it, aren't you?"

Ciel scowled. "My ability to use a mobile phone has no bearing whatsoever on my feelings towards mobile phones."

"Yeah right! Prove to me you can use one!"

"… I can't…"

"A ha! I knew it! You can't use a phone!" Elizabeth smiled triumphantly, before something struck her down.

"Wait… you actually don't know how to use a phone?"

Ciel sniffed disdainfully as he carefully erased a line on his Motion graph. "I have no need in knowing how to use one, nor do I have a need to actually have one."

Elizabeth did not even catch the last bit of the sentence. "You can't use a phone? That's just sad! Okay!" the blonde announced, pointing at Ciel. "I've decided – we'll stop the etiquette lessons for a few weeks, and I'll teach you how to use a phone! And a computer, because you probably don't know that either!"

Ciel stared at her in horror.

Sebastian ignored the two.

And Elizabeth continued to laugh as she began to plot a plan to help Ciel with computers and technology.

By the time she was done, Ciel would be able to sketch a 3D picture on the screen of his phone.

* * *

Notes:

*Presentation Day is a formal assembly at school where everyone has to have immaculate uniform, the head teachers wear their official, graduation-looking gown things and they give awards to all the highest achievers in each subject in each year, and to the sporty people who won heaps of awards, and yeah. Don't know if your school calls it differently or has one, but that's what it is :)

* * *

**Yayy! Finally! A new chappie!**

**This has been sitting on my computer, half-finished, as I pushed it back more, and more, and more... So sorry. Especially to those who asked and I said 'soon'! It was not soon. And that is my fault. Sorry. Again.**

**This wasn't the easiest of chappies to write. Nothing flowed in my head D: hopefully things turn out better, both quality and writing process, for next chappie!**

**Also, no Grell-extra today! sadface. And so there should be a double (or even triple! :O) the dose of Grell next update.**

**So yeah. Hope you're all well :D it's getting colder and colder over here... which I like! Cold is easier to deal with than hot. Because you can always wear more clothes and eat/drink more warm stuff to warm up, whereas when it's hot you can only wear so little clothes... and the heat just keeps coming, even when you only drink iced-water...**

**Shout out to alerters, favouriters, and reviewers: **KaZeKaeRu1307, Angelic yet Demonic,** and **Crepe and Macaron**! Smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches, with a side of Assam tea for you! But! Only three reviews... I must work harder! **

**Until next time!  
et-r**


	13. Stage Ten: An Unexpected Revelation

**Stage 10: An Unexpected Revelation**

* * *

Elizabeth was currently stalking her Doll. At least, she was trying to. Ever since she found out that Sebastian was in charge of Ciel's electronic communications three days ago, she had been researching to gauge just how far behind Ciel was on the technology of modern society.

She knew Ciel's timetable fairly well, since she had gang-pressed him for his timetable all the way back at the start of the year, and she knew he did not take any IT or graphic design or any technological subjects at all. She knew what he did most of the time, since Elizabeth shared half of his classes, and he now sat with her at lunchtime, albeit to the side and reading a book of some sort.

Which, by the way, was doing Ciel a lot of good. He was actually greeting her friends now, and he had lost some of that indoor pastiness to his skin. Still pale (not that she ever wanted to see Ciel tanned, the horror!), but at least he did not glow like a lamp in the sun anymore.

Anyway. Moving back to Ciel and his technology.

Elizabeth had not actually planned to stalk Ciel and his usual school-life habits. She already had a rough plan on how to teach Ciel the basics in mobile and computer technology for the next week. But then, during a computer lab session in their English class, she had seen Sebastian doing both his and Ciel's work…

Hence, the stalking.

But who knew Ciel and Sebastian was so good at making themselves unavailable?

She only wanted to find out the exact times that Ciel even approached anything technological in a day.

Just as she was walking past the Art Department's computer lab (was there even an off-chance that they could be in there? Maybe Sebastian, Elizabeth sighed, but definitely not the technological idiot that was Ciel…), filled with the latest technology for art students who might need to use it for their major works, the bell rang to signal the end of recess. Elizabeth sighed, turned on her heel and trudged away.

She had just wasted twenty minutes looking for Ciel.

And lunch was double that time…

Could she be bothered looking for Ciel for forty minutes?

Elizabeth sighed again. _Maybe I'll just wait until this afternoon to properly ask him…_

As she turned the corner to go up the stairs, the door to the Art Department computer room opened, and two people walked out, one short, one tall, both black-haired, both talking about a game called Cubris.

"That was something I wasn't expecting, Ciel. I thought you were going to develop an app version of Cubris?"

"I rejected it when I was planning it. The whole point of Cubris is that you can hold the Cube in your hand and 'see' all the six sides of the Cube within the console when you're playing. If it's on a flat screen, it's too boring and simple. "

Ciel held up an imaginary cube and made swiping motions with his finger. "And besides, no one can say that having a phone touch screen will make it better, because we already have a touchscreen on the Cube."

The Toy Division CEO looked at the imaginary cube in his hand and gave a little huff of pride at his game. So much better and intellectually stimulating than all those other games out there. Like that game about slashing flying fruit. Or that bird-killing-pig game that the plebeian masses were so obsessed with. Heck, they were even making a _movie_ out of it! A game about a bird launching itself out of a slingshot to kill pigs!

"Even so, adding on a little stick-figure avatar that needs help getting out of the cube while you still have to match the boxes to finish the cube? Clearing a path while making a complete cube? That might be a bit too much of a mental challenge for normal gamers, who are too used to simple games."

"Which is why I made it this way." Ciel saw a junior sneaking in one last game of Temple Runner on their way to class, and glared at them and their game of choice. "The world needs harder games, or our human brains will get too used to easy games and then die out from lack of mental activity."

Then, squinting his usually eye-patched eye, Ciel saw that the junior had a Cube hung on a key chain to the side of their bag, and his glare immediately changed into a smile. A small smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"I think it's still too hard."

"There's different difficulty levels, Sebastian." An exasperated sigh. "They'll get used to it. And you can choose where you want to the little avatar, so people can make it easier for themselves depending on where they put the avatar. And I spent six hours developing this last night, so I've made sure everything's working properly. Besides," Ciel added with a smirk, "you can customise the appearance of the avatar. Everyone loves a customised avatar. You can even choose out of 498 hair styles, which gives the two-dimensional art a different element altogether."

Ciel gazed down the corridor with hairstyles in his eyes. "The most basic would be to choose from a randomised twenty, but if they don't like it, then they can choose from a more extensive randomised list of a hundred. Then they can choose the style of the clothes, the colours of the clothes… you can even add facial features that you see when you zoom into the figure."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "For a stick figure character, you've made it overly detailed, Ciel."

The younger boy glared at the comment. "Customised avatars are important! I mean, the difference in the size of the dot for the eyes, the shape and the colour of the lips, the presence of a nose… these can all change the feel of the entire game! And it helps when you're analysing the game through the 'Avatar Perspective' side of the Cube, so that you can feel the avatar's immediate surroundings clearer.

"Anyway," Ciel continued smugly, "I might even be able to base a brand new game for the Cube entirely on this avatar, which will make the Cube even more profitable."

Sebastian still looked doubtful, but nodded slowly. "Finish developing it tonight, and let me play it tomorrow so I can assess it. Then we can tweak it before you let the Family try it on Saturday."

"Of course. That's what we always do, anyway." Ciel sighed. "They're going to be uncontrollably excited again, aren't they?"

"They always are uncontrollably excited when you develop a new game. Because then they can play it, and add on to it, and help you polish it, and then get everyone else in the world playing it and loving it." Sebastian smiled. "Why else would they have the job?"

"True…" Ciel sighed again. "It's still annoying."

Sebastian glanced at Ciel's face, inwardly laughing at his stuck-up-rich-kid expression, before changing the topic.

"So… you never mentioned where you got the idea."

"Bomberman," Ciel dead-panned at Sebastian, his face resuming its usual blank haughty look.

Sebastian smirked approvingly. If smirking could ever be considered approving.

Ciel smirked back in reply. "With this, all those old farts can stop complaining about how the Toy sales are lagging lately."

"Especially when this is a reasonably cheap add-on."

"And when you've promised to help me make this make the original smoother too, Sebastian."

"Yes. Of course. Are you going to work at it at lunch?"

Ciel blanched, looking horrified at the thought of working at lunch. "No! Today's raining! I'm going to the library!"

Sebastian secretly laughed. Ciel was too easy to fluster. Outwardly, he just smiled.

"Should we hurry to the next class?" he asked casually. "The bell rung five minutes ago."

Ciel shrugged. "The teacher always arrives ten minutes late, so there's no point in hurrying. And she can't teach. She makes everything seem boring. Especially because I know everything already."

"Blame your family for making you learn everything early so you become a fake genius."

Ciel glared at Sebastian. "As if I need your opinion on that. I know my family – all of them are perfectionists to the last degree."

"Including you, I would say." Sebastian twinkled at Ciel. Ciel grimaced in reply before stepping to his usual place slightly in front of Sebastian.

The twinkling was a new technique Elizabeth had told him about, which, apparently, 'gives people the perception that you are very friendly, approachable, and extremely reliable'. She said she had taken inspiration from Albus Dumbledore, who always twinkled and was regarded as the strongest wizard and the best wizard of the world.

At first, Sebastian had been slightly sceptical. After all, Albus Dumbledore was a fictional character who was more than a little batty.

But Sebastian banished his doubts to the back of his mind and gave twinkling a try. There was no harm in trying out a new expression, except maybe a temporary image-change from an unapproachable top student to a wannabe playboy failing to pick up girls.

But twinkling had defied all of Sebastian's expectations. More than he ever dreamed. He had managed to get the teachers to think him the perfect student even more. He had managed to gain the principle's favour after only five seconds of twinkling in the principle's direction. He had even managed to become the favourite student of uncompromising Deputy Principle (or the Shadow Principle) Agni. Which was saying something, since the Deputy Principle's reputation...

Why, he had even managed to get Mr Grell, the school counsellor, to write a recommendation letter to the principle saying that both he and Ciel needed to free up a fifth of their timetable to allow them to express their creative genius. Or something. And the principle hadn't even looked at the letter before signing it with a dazzling grin and a flick of a purple ponytail at Sebastian to 'keep up the good work'.

Not that he needed much incentive to get Mr Grell to help him. Sebastian was ninety-eight percent certain that Mr Grell was infatuated with him. Still, the twinkling had guaranteed Mr Grell's cooperation for the letter.

Besides, he had gotten the stupid trio to start twinkling too, which made them get higher grades from teachers as a result the 'dependability and resourcefulness that Bard, Finny and Mey-rin were finally displaying after three years of high school education'.

Not that those three were actually stupid. They just lacked a bit more common sense than the rest of the population.

_The power of twinkling, and of its creator, _Sebastian reflected,_ is formidable indeed._

As Ciel led the way into the classroom and sat down in their usual places next to the window, the teacher sauntering in after them, Sebastian began to plot inside his head.

_Now… how do I get Ciel to start twinkling?_

* * *

The lunch bell rang.

People rushed to the canteen, eager to get to the food first. Others who had brought their lunch from home walked more slowly, trying to find an empty classroom in which to sit and eat with their little circle of friends. One room, slightly bigger than the rest, was never entered. The whole school knew that that classroom was reserved for Elizabeth and her group. Even though Elizabeth was as welcoming as anyone would expect, the differences in social standing made the whole experience awkward and uncomfortable for both the unfortunate trespasser and the elite group inside.

Except for Elizabeth. Because the girl never felt awkward in any sort of social situation.

However, all these thoughts of classrooms and groups were absent in Ciel's mind as he stepped through the doors of the library, its stillness and quiet enveloping and welcoming the boy. He breathed deeply before rolling his neck and walking in, casually choosing a book on advanced swordplay techniques, casually sitting down at his usual chair near the window to read.

Outside, the rain increased steadily, turning the ground into mush, slicking the concrete paths and walls, blurring the air with its misty droplets of water. Sebastian sat down next to Ciel and looked out the window worriedly.

"Do you think the cats will be alright? It's raining so hard, and they're so small and defenceless…"

Ciel's eyes never left the page. "They'll survive. They're not that defenceless."

Sebastian continued to look worriedly out the window. "But there's so many of them! What if they can't all find shelter? What if there's too many cats and they start fighting? What if –"

"They'll be fine. Or else they would've died already. Now stop bothering me and go somewhere else."

Sebastian continued to hover around his younger cousin, always looking out the window, always muttering to himself.

Ciel finally snapped after ten minutes.

"If you're that worried, then go outside and check on them! I don't give a crap about your precious cats! Stop bothering me already!"

Sebastian glared sulkily at Ciel. Even though Ciel swearing, however mildly, was an indication that he was prepared to murder someone out of annoyance, how could he not care about the welfare of all those cats out there who lack the love they deserve? Did he have no compassion for those poor, unfortunate cats? Did he have no _heart_?

"I can't believe you, Ciel! You're so heartless and cruel!"

"Just shut up and go away already!"

"I will!"

And with that, Sebastian stormed out of the library. Soon, a dark shadowy figure could be seen prowling around the edges of the rainy field.

Ciel shot daggers at the figure before preparing to return to his book. Until he noticed the librarian staring in shock at him, pointing a shaking finger at something out the window.

"W-w-what happened to S-s-sebastian?"

"What do you mean?" Irritation laced his words.

"H-he's always been so gentle and helpful! Mild-mannered, calm and polite all the time! He's never acted like a brainless, spoilt, three-year-old before, right?" The librarian looked at Ciel desperately, searching for a sign that _her_ Sebastian was as saintly as she had always believed.

Ciel laughed derisively. Poor, poor deluded woman. So wrapped up in the perfect image that his cousin always projected.

"If the world didn't have cats, then he would only be gentle, helpful, mild-mannered, calm and polite and never act like a brainless, spoilt, three-year-old."

Resolutely putting Sebastian out of his mind, Ciel immersed himself into his book, oblivious to the librarian now turning her astonished gaze at him for listing out every single word she had used to describe Sebastian.

* * *

"Ciel! Where were you in English? You missed out on watching the Othello movie!"

"I had business to attend to, so I skipped it."

"But we didn't have to do anything!" Finny and Mey-rin protested. "We only watched the movie!"

Bard gathered the two into his umbrella as Ciel glared at them.

"Don't you realise?" Bard whispered. "He was probably doing something to help his family again. You know how he gets when he has to help his family's business."

Finny and Mey-rin stared before nodding, sneaking looks at Ciel, who had now turned to walk away to the bus stop, with Sebastian holding both his and Ciel's umbrellas.

"Ah… so he needs to do something for his family's business again? I wonder what it is this time…" Finny pondered.

"Last time, he had to help build some boxes or something. Took him weeks to finish!" Mey-rin added reminiscently.

Bard nodded. "It must be something really hard this time, since he was talking about escape routes… maybe he has to help plan the emergency routes for different people in their business or something."

The three of them sighed simultaneously. "Our Ciel is so hard working… as expected of our amazing friend! Even planning the emergency escape routes for his family business!"

They looked fondly at Ciel, who was now waiting for the bus stop and scribbling things down into his notebook, still protected by the umbrella Sebastian was still holding for him.

Then Mey-rin frowned.

"Don't you think Sebastian looks a bit damp today? It's like he got rained on or something."

Bard and Finny swung around at her comment and stared.

"It's true… it looks like he stood outside in the rain today or something."

"And Sebastian looks a little annoyed… did CIel insult a cat or something?"

Behind them, Ciel and Sebastian got ready to board their just-arrived bus.

"Do you think…" Bard began. "Do you think that Sebastian was maybe trying to hunt down cats in at lunch today in the rain because they're strays and he's obsessed, and then Ciel was like, THAT'S SO STUPID! at him and made him all pissed and stuff?"

Finny and Mey-Rin looked at each other before bursting into laughter.

"As if he would do that!"

"Sebastian is too sensible to do that stuff!"

Bard turned up his nose. "Whatever! But I bet it's true. And you guys know it!"

Just as he was about to whack them with his umbrella, the bus carrying Ciel and Sebastian whooshed past them, spraying them from head to toe with the water that had been running down the kerb.

Bard shook his umbrella in disgust, all previous annoyances forgotten. "What's the point of an umbrella if it can't protect you from all the water?!"

As Mey-rin tried to wipe her glasses dry, Finny stared at the back of the retreating bus with a dawning understanding.

"You know what? I bet Sebastian's probably wet 'cause he got splashed by a bus or something! That makes so much more sense! After all, he's not obsessed about cats enough to hunt them down in the _pouring rain_, right?"

The other two nodded at this decidedly more reasonable explanation, Bard albeit a little disgruntled

On the bus, a certain tall black-haired teenager sneezed.

Ciel glanced at him before looking out the window. "Bet you caught a cold."

"No, I think someone's saying something bad about me," Sebastian replied as he took a tissue that the bus driver had offered him. "After all, I've never been sick before, and I've already gotten my flu injection."

Ciel snorted. "There's always a first for everything. Including colds."

Sebastian gave Ciel a rather cold stare. "I am _not_ sick. In fact," he continued indifferently, "my intuition tells me that someone's saying something negative about the depth of my dedication to the feline race. In other words," Sebastian glowered at nothing in particular, "someone's doubting the strength of my dedication to cats."

The younger boy stared in confusion. "Since when has doubting an obsession been negative?"

"Since the time cats became an integral part of my identity. Without them, I am nothing."

Ciel looked closely at Sebastian's utterly solemn expression for the slightest tinge of sarcasm, because who could really be that obsessed with, with, _cats_, of all things?

But there was none, and Ciel sat back with a huff and began to stare out the window once more, muttering about idiot cousins and the incomprehensibility of liking all things catty and furry.

* * *

Elizabeth glared at her chapter review.

And then glared at the blank sheet of paper in front of her.

"Stupid Demand and Supply relationships… stupid graphs… why do I have to draw graphs in a social science subject? Stupid lines… so glad I don't have to do the curvy graphs that papa always looks at…"

In the midst of his own work, Ciel sighed. Did Elizabeth always have to _mutter_ about how bothersome all her homework was every single day? It didn't help her finish the homework. What was the point?

Ciel resolutely turned back to his own work, and mentally blocked Elizabeth out, who was now muttering about equilibriums and macroeconomics and microeconomics and fiscal policies.

"…seriously, the government's fiscal policies are so useless, since they're in deficit and we're in so much debt at the moment… what was the cash rate again? I'll look at the graph later…"

Elizabeth sighed and glanced at Ciel, who was writing his T.S. Eliot essay with the utmost calm, occasionally making a side note to the side of his paper, sometimes drawing a diagram of some sort on the paper…

Since when did English essays need diagrams?

Maybe it was part of the planning process?

Elizabeth sighed again and glanced at the first question.

_Compare the different types of unemployment and their effects on the labour market_.

Were there seven types of unemployment? Or was it five…? What had Sebastian said last time about unemployment…?

And finally, finally, the blonde head bent towards the paper and began to write.

Next to her, Ciel relaxed. Once Elizabeth actually started her homework, she did not get disturbed at all until she finished, except to maybe drink from her Coke Spider or her vanilla latte, now that it was winter, and she actually drank coffee, and not that sugar explosion that she always pretended was some sort of frappe.

Now there was no risk of her finding out that his supposed essay was actually the plans for fine-tuning the Cubris add-on. Especially since she had glanced over when he was in the midst of sketching some new upgrades in the design.

His heart had nearly stopped then. But somehow, she had turned away, and he was safe.

And so, Ciel bent down and continued to work on the plans, wishing he could openly use a computer so he could actually input the codes in for the program, instead of writing down only the outlines of what he was planning to do.

* * *

Two hours later, as Ciel finished fine-tuning his fine-tuning plans, Elizabeth was finishing that day's lesson with Sebastian too.

"Were you struggling through the economics homework before the lesson, Elizabeth?" Sebastian asked, smiling rather normally for once.

The girl shook her head, blond hair flying. "No! It was hard at first, but once I fully concentrated and remembered what you told me last time, then it just got easier and easier and easier!"

Sebastian nodded approvingly. "As I said, if you apply the memorisation techniques that I taught you, then memorising large amounts of information will only get easier."

"How about you, Ciel? Have you finished your work too?"

The boy looked up at Sebastian, absentmindedly adjusting his eye-patch more comfortably over his eye. "Yes, I just finished."

"I'll go over it later then. And that's it for today. Thank you, Elizabeth, for joining us once again."

Elizabeth laughed resignedly. "You say that every day! Seriously, I'm more grateful for you letting me join in. Anyway, can I stay for and after dinner tomorrow? Think it's time I taught you those basic computer skills, Ciel!"

Ciel made a face as Sebastian nodded. "You know we'll always welcome you to have dinner with us, Elizabeth."

"Great!" Elizabeth grinned at them both before adding wryly, "And when will the both of you stop calling me Elizabeth? Sounds so formal! Only my mum calls me that!"

"It is only proper to call a lady by their given name, unless we were extremely close to you," Sebastian and Ciel said in unison.

The blonde shuddered. Did they have to say such archaic stuff with the exact same poker face and everything? Was it some family policy or something?

And what did they mean, by only being allowed to call her Lizzy when they were 'extremely close'? Wasn't seeing them every day after school, fencing and swimming with them every weekend, studying with them, shopping with them, called 'extremely close'?

Did that mean they didn't really consider her as a close friend, even after five months of daily interaction with each other?

A pang of sadness.

For the first time in her socially privileged life, Elizabeth was experiencing the rejection that accompanied being unacknowledged as a friend by people that she had thought as close friends for a long time.

* * *

They parted at the Phantomhive residence's front door as usual, exchanging words that they had used for the past five months.

"See you then, Ciel, Sebastian."

"See you tomorrow, Elizabeth." An eye-crinkling Sebastian-smile. An accompanying Ciel-nod.

"Don't forget that I'm staying for dinner tomorrow!"

"We won't. We'll tell the cook immediately after you leave so he knows to cook extra tomorrow," Ciel said blandly.

Elizabeth smiled a smile she'd practised over and over again. "Thanks! Then, see you tomorrow again!" She began to make her way down the garden path.

"Bye, Elizabeth." With that, Ciel turned back to go inside the house. Sebastian followed, closing the door behind them, closing the door on Elizabeth, who had turned around, one last smile fading on her lips.

Elizabeth.

_Elizabeth_.

She stared at the closed door with the syllables of her name echoing through her head and with a heaviness she felt with every beat of her heart.

* * *

_Extra: Grell's Counselling Files, 2011_

_Name: Joshua (Josh) Coopers_

_Year: 10_

_Age: 15_

_Date of Birth: January 26th_

_Reason for visit: Compulsory senior school sessions._

_Notes:_

_Josh is hilarious! He totally acts like a dumb jock, but he's not! If I didn't meet my Sebby first… but then again, Josh is more like Lizzy, more like best friend material than drool-worthy object of affection._

_Anyway._

_Transcript time!_

_But I can't be bothered… or ceebs, or whatever the young people are calling them nowadays… even though I've only done it for two weeks… but seriously! So annoying! D:_

_So summary time!_

_We started talking with the usual questions, and Josh came across as someone who just knew what they wanted to do with their lives. Like, all he wants to do is either become a pro-footballer (looking at his build, totally doable!) or become involved in the fashion industry (looking at his face, totally doable too!). Something to do with his dad being a designer, or something. So he wants to be either of those. One normal teenage dream, one slightly off-centre from normal. But, both definitely acceptable._

_Apart from that, he told me heaps about how he's been close friends with Lizzy since primary school. And then he told me a funny story about how one of Lizzy's closest friends, also from their primary school, has liked him since primary school, but still haven't gotten the courage to confess to him, even after five years!_

_That story makes him sound arrogant… but he's not! He made it sound so genuinely amusing and like a story he'd make of a close friend at a party._

_He did say something interesting though. He mentioned how he's gotten close to Ciel and my Sebby through Lizzy, but then he said that he felt like he was sometimes closer to Ciel and Sebby than Lizzy…_

_Which is strange because Lizzy spends so much more time with them. And because Lizzy's the more charismatic one between her and Josh._

_But whatever. I'll just stay here and observe their relationships for now. As long as my Sebby stays on being fine, then I'm happy~~_

_That's all I have on Josh! He's just as easy to talk to as Lizzy, if not more, because you get a more attentive vibe from him than from Lizzy. But definitely not as interesting, because that girl knows how to _talk.

_Definitely looking forward to next time he comes in~~_

* * *

**Hi guys.**

**Long time no see.**

**Ehehehehehe...**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed! The chapter was originally planned out for longer, but then inspiration struck me and so it got cut short. Sorry guys for the (comparatively) short chappie :( except, you know, normal stories have chapters averaging around 1000-2000 words... so technically this is already a 'super long chapter' hahahaha**

**Anyways, hope you guys are well :D I turned 19 in the break between this chappie and the last YAYYYY~ One more year of teenagedom, and then I become a 'responsible' adult... which sounds really daunting... D: Had an extra planned out for that, but! I've decided to wait until CIEL'S birthday on December 14th to post it. So you're going to have to wait~~**

**One more thing! Some characters that you have been requesting are going to turn up soon! And one (or two of them) were mentioned this chapter. See if you can find it ;D**

**Thanks to the people who favourited, alerted, and reviewed**(Crepe and Macaron, KaZeKaeRu1307, hpgrl95) **this story! You guys are awesome, and so I will give you chocolate dipped strawberries, served with a refreshing peppermint tea ^^**

**So. Until next time! Hopefully soon! XD  
et-r**


	14. Stage Eleven: A Technological Surprise

**Stage Eleven: A Technological Surprise**

* * *

Paula rested her chin on the back her chair and stared unblinkingly at her mistress. She had practically grown up with Elizabeth, and she had never seen her act like this before. Usually, when she was called in for a talk, that was what they did. Talk. And non-stop, at that.

But now…

More than an hour had passed, and Elizabeth had yet to make any sound other than a sigh during this long contemplation of her ceiling.

And Paula had cleaned Elizabeth's room that day, so she knew there was nothing different about the ceiling, so she knew that it wasn't actually the ceiling, so she knew that her mistress and best friend was probably warring with herself, but she did not know why...

A sudden flash of inspiration

Was this… the result of boy troubles?

Paula sat upright with dawning comprehension. If this was because of boy troubles, then it would explain Elizabeth's out-of-character dejection when she came back from studying! It would explain why she couldn't finish her dinner! It would explain even why she didn't get her usual Coke Spider!

But…

The only people who could have affected Elizabeth so much would either be Ciel, Sebastian or Josh. She didn't care for any other guy as much as these three. She didn't even talk to many guys apart from these three. And since Josh was too sweet to say anything major to Elizabeth to make her so depressed, and since she knew for a fact that Elizabeth only saw Ciel and Sebastian as really good friends, and nothing more…

Ciel and Sebastian had said something to Elizabeth that had made her doubt one of her beliefs or something. Or, the poet in Paula remarked, they had dealt a blow to the very essence of her soul.

Elizabeth let out a particularly loud sigh. "Paula," she began. "Do you think…"

"Think what, Liz?"

"Think that…" Paula could hear her mistress' gulp even from this distance away. "I'm just a delusional rich girl who's playing at being popular?"

That… was unexpected. What _did_ Ciel and Sebastian say to her to make her think so? "Why do you think so?"

"Have I always been self-important? So self-absorbed that I just think I'm popular and everyone likes me and I'm friends with everyone, the Midford socialiser, when in fact everyone hates me and thinks I'm really annoying and superficial and stuff?"

"Miss… what happened?"

Elizabeth sighed and sat up, playing with the hem of her pyjamas.

"I realised today that even though I've been hanging with Ciel and Sebastian all the time since forever and that they've become important friends to me, they don't see me like that at all. They've always refused to call me Lizzy, and so I asked them why today, and they both went, 'We can only call close friends by their nicknames' or something. That just shows how little they actually care for me. I'm not a friend. I'm just someone that comes and studies with Ciel, and drags him to outings that he probably hates and thinks is a waste of time, and makes him do stuff that he hates and am I actually doing this for him or has the whole Operation just been an excuse to make me feel good about how social I am and if it is then I've just been inflating my own ego for the past four years even when we first started the Operation after watching _Clueless_ we said we wouldn't turn into Cher and make the whole exercise about us and not the people we're helping but it seems like it has and is Ciel really my friend or just my Toy that I play dress-ups with and so now – "

Paula interrupted her diatribe.

"Miss, calm down." She got up and gave the panicked girl a glass she had prepared beforehand. "Drink some Coke Spider."

Elizabeth followed the instructions, gulping down the Coke Spider like it was a lifeline to her sanity.

"Calm down, Miss. Drink it slowly. Don't gulp it all down, or you'll end up choking." Paula spoke quietly, mildly, and Elizabeth slowed, sipping her favourite drink, and the panic in her eyes gradually died down.

Finally, the glass emptied, and was put down. A much calmer Elizabeth looked up at Paula, who nodded and sat back down.

"Now, Miss, tell me. What happened exactly to make you think like this?"

Elizabeth sighed, a distracted hand running through blond hair.

"Today, I was studying with Ciel and Sebastian like I always do after school, right? And Ciel was scribbling away like he always does, and I was scribbling away like I always do, and we finished, like we usually do. And then we talked, and they called me 'Elizabeth', like they always do."

She flopped onto her bed, leg dangling as she spoke. "It's weird, right? They've known me for half a year already, and they're still calling me 'Elizabeth'. So I was like, 'Guys, why do you still call me Elizabeth?' and they were all like, 'Because we can't be all casual and call people by their nicknames unless they're close friends with us' or something. And that's ridiculous because what else were we? Normal friends? Acquaintances? Even though we see each other every single day of the week to do cool stuff like fencing, which I know they like, or to study and be smart together? I don't get it!"

A loud thump as her leg hit the bed too hard. Paula looked at her in concern, but Elizabeth did not even seem to notice that she had just bruised her leg.

"It's like, what do you count the times when we both learnt something new from Sebastian that'll help us in both this and next year's classes? What do you count the times when we've sparred together, or improved in fencing together? The times we've eaten dinner together to them? The times we've been shopping together, gone on picnics together, lazed around instead of swimming together?"

Elizabeth rolled over and leaned her head on her hand. "I mean, even if I had made him come, it wasn't as if he hated them. He even ended up enjoying himself, most of the time. What does that count as? Just another time that 'Elizabeth' made him spend time outside?"

She sighed. "I mean, it's not that I don't know anything about them, or them about me. We had that interview at the beginning of the year, remember?" Paula nodded. "As I asked him questions, he answered, and I added my own answer. So was I superficial even then?"

Paula decided it was time for her to intervene. This was a revelation that Paula had been waiting for since her mistress had formed her idea of Operation: Transformation.

"Miss, you've always leaned towards the superficial side in your actions. It's not your fault. You were brought up to be sociable and so that influenced you to think more about popularity and appearance and the strength of your influence. It's especially obvious because your mother taught you things that should've become involuntary for you since primary school, like how to talk and command attention, how to look your best at all times, how do dress properly for any occasion."

Paula uncrossed her legs. It felt slightly inappropriate to have crossed legs when they were talking about such a serious matter. Especially since this was about her Lizzy's personality development. So Paula uncrossed her legs, wet her lips, and continued on.

"Then you began learning about power and its dynamics and how to give power to yourself through actions and appearance so that you could help your brother after he succeeds the business."

Paula noticed Elizabeth staring at her wide-eyed, and smiled inwardly. This was probably the first time she had been told just how she had been raised. It was good for her, the maid reflected, to know this, and stay grounded and relatable, instead of turning into the veritable idol that her mother was; adored, loved, but not befriended.

"When you first developed the idea for Operation: Transformation," continued Paula, her voice still mild, still detached, proudly still the perfect maid-voice, "it could've been from how you wanted to feel important after all those lessons from your mother. But it wasn't.

"We could tell that you genuinely wanted to befriend and help the people that were being looked down by other students, because although you understood how important appearance was for popularity, you couldn't understand why they were ignored just by being different."

Relief flooded through Elizabeth's eyes. Paula saw, and took note of it. _Poor girl. She must've been so worried that even her very first plans were 'corrupt', as she would say_.

"But after a while your Operation became a status symbol at school, and a mark of your popularity, and it _changed_. It changed something you never wanted it to be. Isn't that right, Miss?"

A tiny nod of the head. An sense of relief flowing from every fibre of Elizabeth's being. That was the all the answer Paula needed.

"Your intentions were still the same, but it became what you're calling superficial. It became about _you_, and how you wanted to change people instead of making people become accepted and happier at school. You didn't want to become their friend anymore – you wanted to dictate their life for them, become their veritable master in their everything. And everyone was okay with that, because you're _Elizabeth Midford_."

At that, Elizabeth opened her mouth to protest (_they needed me dictating them or they wouldn't have changed and the whole point of the Operation was changing them for the better they really were my friends not my slaves) _but after a moment, closed it again, brows furrowed. Paula beamed. Her mistress was finally seeing the truth that she had been avoiding all these years. At least, she hoped she was.

"The good thing is, you're not, and never have been, selfish. You think about how to make others more comfortable, you're first to praise others, you go out of your way to include others in conversations, even though you might have only met them once."

Elizabeth nodded pensively. Her expression became graver and graver as Paula spoke on.

"But, you care too much about being at the top of your school. And you're a perfectionist. So you make yourself perfect. You make yourself be known to everyone so that they'll like you. You pick Dolls that you can play with and make perfect for a year, and then ditch them because they haven't really changed except for their appearance. But that doesn't matter, because people just think they're ungrateful for your help, and still think you're amazing to make them change so much in the first place."

Elizabeth's expression had grown utterly intent, as if absorbing the words that Paula was saying into her mind and then acknowledging them as her faults.

_She's already trying to change, the perfectionist, thought_ Paula affectionately. The maid hoped her mistress wouldn't change too much though. She liked serving a slightly flamboyant, kind of crazy, very cheerful Elizabeth.

"And the consequence for this is that a lot of your friends are only your friends because of what you are, and not because of who you are."

The girl's face fell, all concentration broken.

"From what I've seen," Paula continued, ignoring the crestfallen expression now adorning her mistress' face, "the people who are genuinely your friends would only your 'gang', as you call them, and Josh, and now, Ciel and Sebastian, because they don't care about popularity and all that."

"So… all my friends only want to be seen with me? They don't really want to be with me?" Elizabeth finally spoke, her voice small, hesitant, sad.

Paula nodded.

"That makes sense… I guess…" Elizabeth sat up again, shoulders slightly bowed. "I only ever actually paid attention to my gang and Josh outside of school, and maybe whoever was my Doll at the time…" she sighed. "I'll just have to start over and actually make them like me for who I am then…"

Paula shook her head. "See, Miss? There it is again. Why do you want all of them to be your friends? Isn't it alright already to have a few close friends and just have fun with the rest? Why do you want all of them to be true friends?"

"I don't like them hanging around me just because I'm Lizzy! I want them to hang around me because they want to!"

"But they do want to. Just for a different reason than you thought they were."

"But still…"

"You can keep hanging around them. You can still be their friend, and they're still your friends. You're going to have to get used to this, Miss, that people want be with you because you're you. When you properly get into the business, you're going to be dealing with people like this all the time. So just enjoy your time with them, and don't let their motivations get to you."

"That sounds horrible though… Is that what my mum gets through all the time?"

"It is," Paula affirmed with a nod. "She's known to everyone, friends with everyone, and then she has her true friends that she meets with privately. You know, your four aunties."

Elizabeth buried her face into a pillow. "Still sounds horrible…" she mumbled. "So fake…" her face re-emerged. "But I guess if my mum does it, I can too, right?"

Paula smiled. "Of course you can, Miss."

"And you'll help me?"

"That's what they hired me for."

"And you'll tell me when I get too proud and perfect again?"

"Definitely."

"And can you stop calling me 'Miss'?"

Paula bowed slightly in her chair. "Yes, my Lord." And then grinned wickedly as Elizabeth's pillow flew her way.

"Where the hell did the my Lord thing come from?!" cried an indignant Elizabeth.

"You know, just lightening up the mood, my Lord." Paula laughed as another pillow flew her way.

"Makes me sound so old and pretentious!"

"Because you are!" Paula hastily threw the two pillows back at Elizabeth before standing up and heading for the doorway before any retaliation came. Just before she left, a quiet 'thank you' was voiced behind her, and with a small bow and a smile, she closed the door and left her mistress to her own thoughts.

* * *

Elizabeth smiled and laughed as lightly as she always had. Nothing in her betrayed the personality dialysis she had gone through the night before, except for maybe a slight warming in the treatment of her close friends.

After all, nothing really had changed, except some of her attitudes to some aspects of her life. And it definitely didn't affect how important it was for Ciel to learn how to use a computer. Knowing how to use a computer was as important as… something like breathing, in today's society. Yes, it was possible to live and survive without a computer, but it'll be a very inconvenient and uncomfortable life.

So the plan to teach Ciel about computers was still going ahead.

And with that, Elizabeth began to review once again what she would be teaching that evening.

_First, how to use a computer. Then, how to use basic Office. Internet… next week? Maybe I'll introduce Google or something…_

* * *

"Mother."

A pretty lady looked up from the dining table. "Ciel! Stop calling me Mother!" She flapped her hand at them with a smile. "And come sit down quick! I'm hungry."

Sebastian smiled. "You're always hungry, Aunt."

The lady's face scrunched up. "True…" And then she spotted Elizabeth standing hesitantly by the door.

"Hello," she rose from her spot and moved towards Elizabeth. "I'm Rachel Phantomhive, Ciel's mother. Have we met before?" She offered the blonde a hand and a smile.

Elizabeth took the hand with a smile of her own. "Hi, Mrs. Phantomhive."

"Call me Rachel."

The girl smiled. "Then, Hi Rachel." The older woman returned the smile. "I'm Lizzy Midford. And yes, we have met before! A long time ago, at the start of the year, but it was a really short meeting so I didn't really introduce myself properly last time – I was in too much of a rush to ask if Ciel wanted to meet with me, I think."

"You know Ciel from school, right?" Rachel could hardly contain her surprise. She couldn't really remember meeting this girl, but then again, her memory for faces was notoriously bad. But if she really had met this Lizzy Midford before, then how had she not recognised the daughter of the CEO of Funtom's biggest competitor? Elizabeth Midford was one of the most well-known faces in the business world, after her mother and father. And how on Earth had Ciel managed to keep this obviously very social girl's attention, being the social recluse he was?

Sometimes, Rachel worried that Ciel was too _much_ of a social recluse. Sometimes, she felt that introducing the business world to their children so early put too much responsibility on their shoulders and prevented them from growing up normally. But what was she to say that, when she was an Engineer who had married into the Phantomhive family, as opposed to being born of the Phantomhive family?

Rachel's thinking had nearly made her miss Elizabeth's answer.

"Yeah. And I study with them every day after school as well."

Rachel's eyes crinkled with a smile, hiding even more surprise. Ciel, voluntarily studying with someone else? When he thought everyone was a plebeian? "You must be very smart, to be able to keep up with Ciel and Sebastian."

Elizabeth laughed. "It's hard sometimes," she admitted, "but I've gotten used to their speed now! So I've been able to keep up for a while."

Rachel nodded. This girl was smart, patient enough to deal with her sometimes-too-stubborn son, and stubborn enough to stick to whatever she committed to.

And she was pretty and likeable.

Rachel approved of her, and beamed at the girl. "I'm glad that Ciel's finally making new friends. And has a new study partner." She turned and led Elizabeth to an empty chair. "In fact, why haven't you introduced Lizzy to me before, Ciel?"

Ciel fiddled with his fork. "You've always been busy the times she's stayed for dinner."

"Still!" Rachel sat back down with an indignant huff. "You should've told me! Especially because Lizzy studies with you. You've never studied voluntarily with anyone before!"

Elizabeth's mood lifted a little. So she was the first to study with them? And then her mood deflated again, because she couldn't understand why she still wasn't their close friend, if she really was their first study mate.

It didn't make sense. At all.

Her thoughts were interrupted with the arrival of their food.

"Yes! I've been craving sweet and sour pork all week!" crowed Rachel triumphantly. "Thanks, Bart!"

Their chef grinned. "My pleasure, Mrs. Rachel."

Elizabeth leaned over to Ciel. "Is your mum always Mrs. Rachel?"

Ciel nodded, spearing a piece of pork with his fork. "She doesn't like being called Mrs. Phantomhive because it's old sounding, and so to tease her without making her too mad, they all call her Mrs. Rachel."

Elizabeth looked at the woman, who was now delightedly eating her dinner. She was… so different to her own mother. So casual, so carefree. No rules held her back, no proprieties controlled her actions.

How on earth did Ciel turn out to be so hung up on manners and such when his mother didn't care at all? Slightly bewildered by the huge difference between mother and son, Elizabeth looked as Rachel badgered her slightly disgruntled son to 'eat slower and actually savour the taste! It's not healthy to eat super fast!'. And then, Rachel's gaze turned onto her.

"So, Lizzie. Has your week been good so far?"

"Good enough. It's always the same. School, study, fencing, swimming. Maybe the occasional coffee with the girls."

"Sounds so good! And so active! You fence?"

Elizabeth nodded as she chewed on her dinner. "My parents have always fenced, and I always went to my dad's tournaments, so I always wanted to. And it's fun! I've made Ciel come fence on Saturday afternoons with me as well."

Rachel raised her eyebrows. "So you're the miracle girl who managed to get Ciel to move?"

Elizabeth laughed. "I actually tricked him into it by calling on a favour he owed me. And it seems like he likes it because it's all strategy and stuff as well. But he's so un-co!"

"Yeah…" Rachel shrugged. "Ciel's never been sporty. All brains and no brawn. Saddens me, because I like my sport, but makes his dad happy, because he's like that too."

"Really?"

"You should see the two of them playing tennis. No tennis ball ever gets hit, because they can't even serve!"

The two laughed. Ciel studiously ignored them. They were probably talking about him, and he did not want to know what they were laughing about.

Sebastian on the other hand, _was_ listening, and obviously, he was agreeing with them, since he was silently laughing as well. Seeing Ciel's scowl, Sebastian laughed even harder.

The boy sighed. Really, was it that fun to talk about him? Was he really that amusing as a conversation topic?

And so Ciel blanked them out, and continued his meal in peace and quiet.

Meanwhile, Rachel was now explaining her work to Elizabeth, both having completely moved on from talking about Ciel.

"Instead of being a regular mechanical engineer, I'm more like a designer engineer."

"So you make engines and stuff?"

"Well, the people under me do, but me and my team are the ones who design engines from scratch for companies or make prototypes to try and fix some problem or try to improve existing engines so they can be more environmentally friendly, more fuel efficient, cheaper to make, cheaper to maintain, that sort of thing."

Elizabeth gazed starry-eyed at the older woman.

"That's so cool! So what type of engines and stuff do you usually deal with?"

"We deal mostly with cars and planes. Sometimes, we get a commission to make a robot of sorts, like a robotic arm that can pour the perfect coffee, but that's super rare, and it takes us ages to do."

Elizabeth's gaze had turned even more starry-eyed at the mention of robots.

"Robots?! Like, actual robots?"

Rachel laughed. "Not really. More like parts of robots. I encourage my team members to have their own projects though, and the main guy who does the robotic stuff is trying to build a R2D2 sized, humanoid robot. He's been trying for ages though, and he's only just got the right motion for the arms and stuff. And that's without the program that he's gonna need the programmers to write for him."

"I kinda want to be an engineer now…" Elizabeth stared off dreamily. "It sounds so cool…"

"It's really hard," Rachel warned. "When I was at uni, the fail rate was at least forty to fifty percent for many of the subjects. It got to the point where it was expected for all engineering students to stay back at uni for an extra year because they failed too many subjects."

"I don't care! If I can keep up with Sebastian and Ciel, I can pass, easy!" Elizabeth began to attack her meal with gusto.

Rachel looked down, and saw the determination in those big green eyes. She probably could, the Phantomhive Engineer realised. She had brains, and she had determination.

Too bad her parents would probably prevent her from becoming an engineer, or Rachel would have welcomed the girl gladly as either a team member or an engineering rival.

"It's weird though…" Elizabeth swallowed her food and turned back to Rachel. "If you're an engineer, then you should be really good at computers and stuff, right?"

Rachel looked at the girl in puzzlement, but nodded. "I'm not amazing, but yes, I can use a computer good enough."

"Then how come Ciel's so bad at computers? He doesn't use a phone, he never touches a computer at school… I don't get how he can be so computer inept if he's got you, if not Mr. Phantomhive, as well as parents."

The woman raised an eyebrow and glanced at her son, who was still working his way through his dinner. Ciel? Technologically inept? Really? Since when?

Maybe this was high-level computer skills Lizzy was talking about.

Who knew, with kids these days?

"What? Why are you refilling my plate?" Ciel suddenly shouted. Everyone looked up to see Ciel ranting at Sebastian and the maid, who were exchanging grins.

"Why, Ciel," said Sebastian, "I thought you were hungry, from the intent way you were staring at your food. So I took the liberty to ask Isabelle to fill up your plate as you ate so you would eat enough."

Isabelle nodded. "Indeed, young Master. You were staring at your plate so intently I couldn't bear the thought of you not eating enough, so I kept your plate full." Her eyes shone with earnestness.

Ciel narrowed his eyes. "You're laughing at me, aren't you?"

The maid dramatically put a hand to her heart. "Me? Laugh at the young Master? Of course not!"

"Now I really know you're laughing at me…"

Sebastian and Isabelle shared a silent high-five before Isabelle left. Resignedly, Ciel began to work through the food on his plate.

Rachel laughed. "Ciel! Cheer up, you're a growing boy. You need your nutrients."

"I still haven't hit the long-awaited growth spurt, Mother. I doubt I classify as a 'growing boy'."

"You'll grow soon. Just wait for it."

"But I don't want to be tall. Tall seems annoying."

"But you'll have good presence." Rachel smiled at her son. "And good presence is important when you're an adult."

"As if I need that."

"You're not an adult yet, so you wouldn't know."

"Ciel," Sebastian began, "your mother's right. Height gives you certain advantages in the business world. People are willing to listen to you more, give you more attention, give your ideas more attention…"

Ciel couldn't hide the small smirk that appeared on his face. As if he needed more attention, with the Toy Division doing so well, without even counting in the weight that the Funtom name brought him.

Both Sebastian and his mother gave him a warning glance, with Rachel flicking her gaze to Elizabeth to see if she noticed anything. Ciel resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Even if he was smirking, he did it often enough to prevent Elizabeth from knowing anything anyway. Their actions, if anything, were more conspicuous than his smirk.

Besides, Elizabeth was finishing the last scraps on her plate. Ciel doubted she noticed anything.

So the rest of the meal was spent in stiff silence, as each person finished their food, Ciel eating the rest of his plate as quickly as he could, before dessert was brought in, and the silence became comfortable, appreciative of the chocolate ganache tart covered in berries and fresh cream.

Even Elizabeth, who was trying to cut down on the amount of cake she was eating, finished her whole slice of tart. (Secretly, she wanted more, but alas! There was no extra tart left.)

So the meal ended comfortably, contently. Elizabeth earned Rachel Phantomhive's regard, with an extending welcome to 'always join us for dinner!', and despite the potential slip, they had successfully kept the Phantomhive business secret from one of the future successes of their biggest business competitors.

* * *

Ciel sat in the swivel chair, eyes staring up at Elizabeth, who was gawking at the two screened computer system in front of him.

"Woah… I've never actually met anyone who uses two screens before!"

"My father needs the two screens when he's doing his designing."

"That's amazing! Your parents are so cool!" Elizabeth looked at him, her eyes shiny once more. And then they turned serious. "But you're not them. You're cool, but you're a technological fail. So!" The girl clapped her hands. "Let's start with the basics. Do you know how to switch on the computer?"

"You press the power button," Ciel dead-panned.

The sarcasm was lost on Elizabeth, who just beamed. "That's good! And then?"

"You log-on to the computer."

'So you do know how to get onto the computer! So do that, and we'll move on to other stuff."

Ciel suppressed his urge to roll his eyes. Seriously? Was she actually going to start with the basics? Did she really think him so inept at technology that he couldn't even switch on the computer? He sighed, and pressed the power button. Within seconds, one screen flickered to life, scrolling through lines of letters before blanking and smoothing out into the log-on screen.

Elizabeth gawked at the speed. She had never seen such a fast computer before, and her dad insisted on buying the latest technology. Ciel's family must be even richer than she knew.

Meanwhile, with a flicker of his fingers, Ciel had typed in his password and was now staring expectantly at Elizabeth.

She looked at the screen and snorted.

He looked at her in confusion. "What's so funny?"

"Why do you have a picture of you in your dress and Sebastian as your butler as your wallpaper?"

Ciel scowled. "My father did it for me. And then whined when I changed it to something else. So to prevent him from whinging at me, I kept the picture."

"Snaps for your dad." Elizabeth could not stop grinning. "And that also shows that you can change your wallpaper. Yaaaay."

Ciel sighed. "I can use a computer, Elizabeth. I know how to use Microsoft Office, I know how to use the Internet, and I can use the Adobe programs. What else would I need to know?"

The blonde gaped. "So you can use a computer? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Because you never asked, and just assumed I couldn't."

Elizabeth looked away. Was this more proof of her dictatorship? Was this one of the reasons why she wasn't close enough to Ciel and Sebastian?

"I'm sorry."

Ciel looked at Sebastian with a raised eyebrow. Sebastian nodded before looking at Elizabeth. The younger boy made a face, to which Sebastian replied with a frown.

"That's okay." Ciel hated trying to accept apologies. He sounded too stiff, but he couldn't muster enough emotion to make his voice sound caring. And Sebastian always made him do it.

But from Sebastian's raised eyebrow, 'that's okay' had not been good enough. Ciel glared at Sebastian. What else was there to do?

Sebastian sighed and did a few sketching motions with his hands. Ciel frowned, before brightening with understanding and opening a new file.

"Elizabeth," he turned to the still downcast girl. Why did she still look so apologetic? She had already apologised, had she not

"Elizabeth," Ciel said again. "I should be thanking you instead, since you're always so willing to spend so much time with me. So, both to prove to you that I can use a computer, and to thank you, please watch the screen."

As he turned towards the computer and opened up an old sketch as a base, Ciel could feel a disapproving glare drilling into his head. Had he said something wrong? What had he said wrong? From Elizabeth's fascinating stare at how he was changing the picture, she didn't seem to think he said something wrong.

So Ciel ignored Sebastian, and turned his focus fully on the picture before him.

Twenty minutes later, with a lot of erasing of lines, and pressing of buttons, a simple, slightly cartoonistic, water-coloured sketch of Elizabeth was produced. The girl stared at it with wonderment.

"That's… amazing. How can you draw on the computer, and not in real life?"

Ciel shrugged. "I don't know. Do you like it?"

Elizabeth hugged Ciel impulsively before jumping back. "Sorry! Forgot you don't like being touched. But yes! I do like it. Very much. Thank you, Ciel."

"My pleasure. I'll print it off for you as well."

As Ciel went off to print it, Sebastian nodded at the computer screen.

"Would you like to see something else while we wait?"

Elizabeth grinned. "Yes, please! Does Ciel know how to make movies? Can I see one of them?"

Sebastian smiled. "Of course you can. Let me get something up."

And for the next two minutes, Elizabeth gawked as a short clip about a cake that believed it was too beautiful to be eaten played out in front of her.

Just as the clip ended, Ciel came in with a rolled up poster.

Elizabeth turned to him with awe in her eyes. "That was an amazing story. I can't believe you did that. I'm so stupid for accusing someone like you for not being to use a computer. I'm so sorry. You're amazing!"

Ciel thrust the poster into her hands. "Here you go, Elizabeth. I printed it as a poster for you. These usually look better large."

Elizabeth took the roll with a small bow, still in awe with what she had seen. First, the picture. Now, the film clip.

What else had she ignored about Ciel over her own assumptions of him?

And so, she left the house, head reeling still from Ciel's unexpected computer skills, hands carefully holding the poster Ciel had made for her, smiling absently as she went through the motions of departing.

* * *

Rachel made sure Elizabeth had safely driven away before shutting the door.

"What did she teach you about computers, Ciel? Anything interesting?"

Ciel shrugged. "She was more surprised and silently watching me draw her on the computer. No teaching from her at all."

"So she actually did think you couldn't use a computer?" Rachel raised an eyebrow when Ciel nodded. "What gave her that idea?"

"I don't use the computers at school. Sebastian does it all for me," Ciel replied. "You know that already."

Rachel sighed. "You can't always do that."

"The only computers even remotely fast enough are the ones in the Art rooms." Ciel began to make his way back to his room. "Tell the school to upgrade their systems."

His mother said something in reply, but Ciel ignored it, instead asking Sebastian why he chose to show her the clip about the cake.

"After all," Ciel continued, "the clip is so amateurish. Nothing like what I do now."

Sebastian smirked. "If I had shown her a clip you'd just finished, she would probably go crazy. That was the safest clip I could think of."

Ciel raised an eyebrow. "A clip from a primary school project?"

* * *

**Hi guys!**

**Not as late as the last one~ whoooo!**

**It would've been earlier, but I've been sick :( stupid transitions in the weather, always so cold/flu season-y :(**

**Anyways, hope you liked this! The first section's so talky... but it was necessary for Elizabeth to realise it (finally). Don't worry, ultimate showdowns are still in order XD after all, what would a story be without an ultimate showdown between its characters? ;) or maybe I just read too many shounen manga and all that talk about eternal rivals and stuff hahahahaha**

**Thank you to favouriters, alerters, and reviewers** **(**Firerosemon, Khatarina, Angelic yet Demonic, DestinyDreamer911, AnimeXMangaAddict**)!**** Please review, because your reviews make my day~!**

**I have to say though, **Khatarina**, I never said that melanin in Ciel's skin was a bad thing, as I was clearly saying that he was healthier looking for being less pale. And no where in my chapter did I ever specifically say that I thought dark skin was bad (unless you over-tan, in which case, you're making yourself susceptible to skin-cancer, which is a really big deal here in Australia with the ozone hole and all). So even if it was meant as a joke, I feel that your comment to me as a bigot was unfair and unreasonable. I'm sorry if I'm over-reacting, but I'd like to clear that up. Not that I know if you're even reading this, since you're an anonymous reviewer... :O**

**And that's it for now. I will now go to bed because it's 12:30 in the morning at the moment XD to those that are also about to sleep, good night! And to those who are reading this in the daytime, good day! And to those who are reading this after they woke up, good morning!**

**Until next time,  
et-r**


	15. Stage Twelve: A Series of Meetings

**Stage 12: A Series of Meetings**

* * *

Elizabeth stepped back and admired her work with a smile. Ciel's poster was now hanging on the door of her wardrobe, carefully measured and centred with its edges parallel to the edges of the door. But really, with such with an amazing poster, with such an amazing frame, it could have only been hung perfectly straight and centred.

How could anyone even stand having such a fabulous picture hanging _crooked_?

A fabulous picture that Ciel had made for her.

Ciel, the library lurking, second in the grade, uncoordinated, short little boy.

Another thing she didn't know.

She really was a terrible friend.

And so Elizabeth unrolled a yoga mat, stared at Ciel's poster, and, neatly folding her legs, began to meditate on how to become a better friend. After all, what problems could not be solved through meditation?

* * *

"I don't think this is a good idea…"

Ciel turned his head and pouted at Sebastian behind him, who just smiled and continued to hold up the jacket. Grumbling, muttering, Ciel reluctantly slid his arms through the sleeves.

"Why can't I wear my uniform like I usually do? It's not as if it's important to turn up to mufti days* at school in normal clothes."

"It's a good chance for you to show off a little bit for Elizabeth and her work these past few months," Sebastian replied mildly, his smile never changing. But really, Sebastian reflected silently, even though Elizabeth's approach to changing Ciel was wrong, her ideas about people relations and balancing work-play lifestyles should be commended and emulated. They were sound, effective, and achievable. They made a person seem more relatable, more dependable, while still giving off a degree of unattainability and mystery.

The Midford family was fortunate to have a daughter like Elizabeth.

And Ciel needed to adopt her practices, or he would never succeed past the point that he is now.

Or, as Bard would say, 'he'd be screwed to death'.

Oblivious to Sebastian's sighs over his future, Ciel plucked distastefully at the knitted sleeves of his yellow jacket. What was the name that Sebastian had called it? Cardigan? Whatever it was, it was too big for him. The sleeves went past his wrists, the body was loose, the edge of the jacket brushed the top of his thighs…

And for some reason, there were brown patches of felt where his elbows were. On a yellow jacket. Ciel could not fathom why people would want to look like a yellow, electric-bolt-shooting rat from a game created more than a decade ago, but according to Sebastian, looking like a Pikachu was 'fashionable'.

At least it was comfortable enough to move around in. As was the pants, and the crisp shirt underneath. But still. It had been two months since he had worn his 'old clothes', as Elizabeth kept referring them to, and he missed the elegance of a well cut coat, the balance a fitted shirt, the simplicity of a tailored pair of shorts, the height of his heeled shoes...

With one last look of longing at his uniform, Ciel walked out of the room, stifling the need to scratch where the tag of his shirt was poking into his neck.

* * *

The minute Elizabeth stepped out of her car, she got bombarded by her group.

"OH MY GOSH HES SO CUTE!"

"I can't BELIEVE you managed to get him so adorable!"

"I WANT TO HUG HIM AND NEVER LET GO!"

"Seriously, it's like MAGIC!"

Elizabeth smiled bewilderedly. "What's so cute and magical?"

Diana pointed to a small figure in a bright yellow cardigan, followed by someone tall in black. As they passed, the people around them turned, stared and began to talk excitedly. Some of them even whipped out their phones to take pictures.

"He's so cute!"

Cindy nodded. "He was so common before, and suddenly, he's the cutest think on earth!"

"Like, his change isn't quite as dramatic as the guy from last year," Diana continued, "but Ciel's got to be the cutest one."

Upon hearing this, Elizabeth grinned. "He's adorable, isn't he? We should've gotten to know him earlier; he acts even cuter when you get to know him."

The whole group screamed in excitement and began to plan on how to get close to Ciel. Elizabeth's grin widened. Ciel was too lazy to make new friends, but with all the attention he was getting, he did not even need to make an effort. People would flock to him, people would talk to him, people would care about him, and all he had to do was to talk to them back, and he would be loved by all those people. And who did not want that to happen to them?

* * *

"So, Ciel, what do you usually do after school?" a girl asked prettily.

Ciel glanced at her before looking away, leaning his head on his hand and staring out the window. The girl squee-ed with her friends at his cuteness, before asking him more questions, which he duly ignored.

Internally, Ciel was having the time of his life.

_Stupid girl, who do you think you are? You don't pay attention to me and left me happily alone for years and suddenly, with one Pikachu outfit, you're happy? You think you're so cool, with your hair overdone with those blonde streak things, and dressed in clothes straight out of a magazine, and with random notebooks that I bet are empty or filled with doodles. But you know what? You're NOT, you slave of fashion!_

Out of the corner of his eye, Ciel observed the girl's friends.

_And your friends. Who are they kidding? They're clones of each other. No originality at all. And you're no different. Your whole group is a mass of clones! You even talk the same way! Hurry up and go away, you bunch of plebeians who wouldn't understand the beauty of a well-executed chess game even if every move was explained to you._

The bell rang, and they scurried off to their seats as the teacher walked in and started the class. Ciel sighed. Peace.

Until the guy sitting next to him began to whisper at him.

"Ciel, you're looking mighty fine today. Tell me. Is Lizzy really as perfect as everyone says she is? I mean, I love her, but I don't want to be loving some sort of fake perfection…"

Ciel blocked him out.

_I sit in the corner for a reason. The only person who sits next to me is Sebastian. How did you manage to get next to me? Go away and stop bothering me, you poser. If you want to know more, then go to her directly! You're so stupid, trying to weasel information out of me like that. Your interrogation methods aren't even subtle anymore, you with the overly gelled hair. And what's that smell…?_

A sickening, cloying smell was emanating from somewhere near Ciel. It could not be pollen, since the flowers were dying as winter approached. Food? But food never smelt like this. Ciel sniffed the air a few more times.

… _is the smell coming from you? It stinks. It stinks to the high heavens. It stinks of cheapness and overdose. If you want that cologne stuff, don't just get the popular one. It takes time to choose good smelling cologne. And you obviously can't do it. And I feel like sneezing._

Ciel sneezed violently, interrupting the teacher's monologue.

"Sorry, sir." Ciel raised a hand in apology.

"Don't worry about it. Do you need a tissue?" The teacher looked at Ciel in concern.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you."

"Okay then. Take care of yourselves, everyone. Seasonal changes make it easier to fall sick!"

"Yes…" chorused the class.

The teacher continued his lesson. At the sneeze, the try-hard guy had moved away in disgust, and was now finally paying attention to the class. Or to a certain blonde girl on the opposite side of the room, who had looked over at Ciel in concern before at the sneeze, and was now currently giggling at a comment that her friend had whispered to her.

Ciel looked in disgust at his actions, before resuming his gaze out the window, ignoring the stares of the many other members of the class.

_Is Pikachu really that in fashion right now? They should all just go get the same thing already, the imbeciles. And it's so rude, their idiotic, non-stop stares. Did their parents not teach them that staring is impolite? Do they even care? Actually… they probably don't, since they're all just a bunch of sheep, following each other randomly in a mass of foolishness._

The bell rang for the end of class. Ciel collected his belongings and stalked out of the room, looking in disdain at the wondrously staring people around him.

_The stupid youth of today; I fear for the future. If this is the prime example for the workers of tomorrow, then where will I find good employees to support me? Even Sebastian can't do the work of a thousand people. A few hundreds, maybe, but a thousand? Impossible._

And with that thought, Ciel scowled and strode down the corridor in annoyance, oblivious to the many stares, squeals and envious gazes he was evoking in his wake.

"How is he so cute after being such a boring nobody for so long?" asked one girl to her friend.

"I don't know... it's not like he's actively changing like the other Dolls…"

A passing guy heard it, and sighed to his friend. "Even the girls have noticed… that kid doesn't care about being a Doll… and look at him! So much cooler than all the other Dolls before him."

His friend nodded glumly. "He's got this air like, 'I'm cool now, and I don't give a damn!' about him. Totally different to the fan-boys who came before him as Dolls…"

"Do you think the rumours about Lizzy actually shopping and hanging out with him every day are true?"

"If they were… I wanna be a Doll too, dammit!"

"Yeah… but then we'd care too much and then we won't be cool anymore…"

The two boys sighed and looked back at Ciel's direction. "Don't think anyone can be cool like him. He's probably the only one who doesn't care about Lizzy."

A hidden member of Elizabeth's fan club heard it, and immediately sent it to the exec team for the fan club.

The President and Vice-President, who were together enjoying their free period in the common room, heard their phones chime simultaneously.

"What? Someone thinks not caring about Lizzy is cool?!" The President was shaking his phone in indignant astonishment.

The Vice-President, who had had class in first period, and thus had seen Ciel, and heard the hype, filled the President in about the Ciel situation.

"So… are you saying that Ciel's the best Doll so far?" the President asked sceptically. "Does he really look as cute as you're telling me?"

"You don't believe me?"

"No, not really. I mean, he's such a silent, smart-ass kid. He's not even noticeable all the time, and his expression never changes. Unless you do something stupid." The President made a face. "Like there was this one time when I accidentally tripped over the tree root and he saw it. Totally gave me this _look_ and all. He even curled his lip, or whatever it's called. That's not cute at all."

The Vice-President was about to rebut when he noticed a flash of yellow outside the common room window.

"If you want, you can see for yourself. Ciel's walking past the common room now."

The President glanced out the window. His scowl slipped off his face and replaced by a dropped jaw.

"Is this for real?" He rushed to the window. "You weren't joking."

"Told you so." The Vice-President stuck her tongue out at his back. "And his scowl looks in place, for once."

"Yeah… Lizzy-sama really is amazing… only she can bring out such an amazingly adorable kiddie out of bratty Ciel…"

"And he's not doing this to impress Lizzy-sama either," mused the Vice-President. "So he's actually doing this because he knows he needs to change like how Lizzy-sama sees it."

The President did not respond, could not respond, and only watched as Ciel's yellow clad form walked across the quadrangle and disappeared into the school building.

* * *

Sebastian took one look at Ciel's face glaring out the window after school on the bus, and said, "It's good for you. The attention gets you better impressions, more good will… it'll help you give positive first impressions on people, and help you maintain those impressions. And that'll be important for when you need to go into a business meeting anytime in the future."

"I don't need to!" Ciel hissed explosively, still glaring out the window. "You do it for me usually! And even if I do it, I can manage already! Why do I need to conform to the rest of the world? As long as everything is negotiated and all the terms clarified, then it doesn't matter!"

Sebastian sighed. "There's more to a negotiation than just talking and signing the contract, Ciel."

Ciel's glare could bore through the glass and vapourise the tree outside. "Don't need it! Don't need you! Don't need anything! Stupid people who bother people! Stupid people who only care about Pikachu! Don't need you all!"

* * *

Ciel sat in the hotel lobby. Sebastian was late. And he was never late. Was this payback for him dissing Sebastian yesterday? Making him deal with the business client by himself?

If it was, then it was not a very well thought out payback. Ciel was dressed in his beloved clothing, he had slept well, dreaming of decapitating cloned Barbie and Ken dolls, and he knew the business negotiations back to front, being the one who had planned it in the first place.

And so, Ciel turned on his stacked heel, cane clicking on the steps, folder tucked under one arm, and headed to the hotel restaurant to meet with the client, laughing at Sebastian's failed plot as he ran through the proposal once more in his head.

He had just sat down at his reserved table next to the hotel's three-storey glass windows overlooking the park outside, listening to the ambient murmurings of the rich and well brought-up when the client walked into the restaurant, weaving through the tables covered in perfect white linen and silverware. Ciel stood to greet the customer, all clinical politeness and professionalism, and smirked to the mini-Sebastian in his head.

_See? This isn't hard at all. As long as I stay professional, I will succeed in everything. With or without conforming to society. Stupid Sebastian._

* * *

Contrary to Ciel's belief, Sebastian had not actually planned to miss the business lunch. He had run through the notes, had picked out the outfits that they would wear the next day (definitely without any item of clothing even remotely similar to Ciel's current outfit), and had even prepared a small slideshow on his tablet to show the client.

However, all thoughts of the meeting had been washed away when he saw a poster advertising a Kitten Petting tour as part of a Cat Convention, held at the same time as the meeting. And the tour even promised to include feeding and playing times. Feeding and playing times! Not just petting!

And so Sebastian, along with a group of twenty other people, was now surrounded by kittens everywhere, all furry, all purring, all begging to be hugged and touched and petted.

One particularly small head butted into Sebastian's palm, nose tracing small patterns along his fingers. Sebastian looked down, and he swore the small tabby smiled up at him as it purred.

Sebastian melted.

* * *

The client was currently trying to debate out the finer points of the proposal. Ciel sighed. Did he not already realise that the proposal was foolproof?

"I assure you, we've already tested the new interfaces for the touch-screen Cube on some prototypes we had created. It's a perfect addition onto the existing, best-seller Cube, so there's no need for any more testing. We only need it done, and we believe you're the one who can help us get it done."

"But…" the client was still suspicious. "The technology that you develop may not be the ones that my contacts are using. Different manufacturing processes will affect the end product. I think we need more of a budget to make sure that you won't end up with a faulty product."

Ciel sipped his juice. "As I said, we've already done enough testing. And it was working fine."

The client nodded vehemently. "I see your point, and it's impressive. Four responsive touchscreens? That's already an engineering marvel. But, because it's so marvellous, we need to make sure that we can create a product that will remain marvellous and without fault for as long a time as possible! And with your budget, we can't guarantee that!"

"Don't you have other contacts to go to for this?"

"To guarantee the quality, I will only go to two companies. And from all the other projects that I'm helping Funtom with already, I know that these two companies will the best in working smoothly with the Funtom culture."

Ciel glanced sidelong to the client. "So… you will only work with these two companies, is that right?" The client nodded. "And for successful production, you need a bigger budget, is that right?" The client nodded again.

The boy steepled his fingers and looked directly at the client. "Are you trying to weasel more money out of us for this project? I chose you because you are the best in the business for this type of connection work, and because you've always performed well in all the past liaisons you've had with Funtom."

The client started to speak, but Ciel did not even give him a chance to interrupt. "But with this attitude, I can only assume that you're trying to gain more money out of this plan. And I don't think you have the right to do that.

"I want to continue to work with you, but using this business plan without any sort of revision, because this plan has already been tested, and it is the optimum proposal for this project. Do you have any objections?"

The client wiped his mouth delicately with his napkin. "… I think I'll have to think about accepting your offer."

Ciel stared in astonishment at his client, who gave him an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to need more time."

"Excuse me?" Ciel's gaze turned disdainful. "Are you rejecting our offer?"

The client shook his head. "No, not rejection. But I do need to think it over."

"Think an offer from Funtom over? Not only a worldwide corporation, but also a long standing partner with you in their other projects? Are you mad?"

"With that type of tone, I believe I am mad." The client's tone turned to steel. "If you want a business deal, young man, you should rethink how you treat your potential business partners. Even if you are from, as you say, _Funtom_. Who I never knew hired negotiators that dressed in such an… unique fashion."

His eyes swept scornfully over Ciel's clothes, who turned indignant at the jibe.

"How petty of you, to judge someone through their looks. If this is how you run your company, I'm surprised that you even hire people who are over the age of twenty-one, let alone having a company with no staff under the age of twenty-five."

The client raised a furious head, but Ciel gave him no chance to speak. "And if you can't see just how advantageous this is for your business, then you don't deserve to work with Funtom anyway. There are plenty more businesses like yours who would jump at the chance you're getting. We obviously don't need you."

A chair clattered as the client stood up.

* * *

Elizabeth walked into the hotel restaurant, for once about to sit down and have a meal with her entire family. Her father had even taken the afternoon off for this lunch. They were about to be seated at their table when she spotted an eye-patch.

_Is that…?_

She stood up, peering over at the table in the window, before smiling happily. It was Ciel! And back to wearing his Victorian clothes. She guessed that he needed a break now and again; she would have to make sure that he did not do it too often, though.

"Excuse me, Father, Mother, for a moment while I go and greet a friend."

Her parents smiled and nodded. Elizabeth began to make her way through the tables, when she spotted the other occupant at the table.

_Mr Lutzee?_ _ What is he doing there? With his secretary…? Is this a meeting? Never knew Ciel helped his family business to the point of holding meetings for them._

And then she saw the papers, saw the expressions and sighed.

_I bet he just lost it… time to help a friend out? But Ciel doesn't like people helping… Whatever! I'll deal with the problems later!_

* * *

"We're leaving." His secretary scrambled to collect all his papers. "Even if you are the biggest company in the world, partnering with you would be the last thing I would do for my company, if everyone at Funtom was as rude as you were today, _boy_."

A bright voice interrupted the client's exit route.

"Mr Lutzee! Fancy seeing you here!" A blonde called, before walking over to greet the client.

"Lizzy. How are you?" He kissed Elizabeth on both cheeks.

"I'm about to have lunch with the family at the moment, so that's fun. You?"

"I just finished _negotiating_ with this boy over here." Mr Lutzee threw Ciel a dirty look, which Elizabeth followed.

"Ciel! What are you doing here?"

"Talking to a potential business partner who just rejected my offer." Ciel calmly sipped his drink.

Elizabeth turned in shock to Mr Lutzee, who looked in bewilderment at the exchange. "Do you know him, Lizzy?"

"He's a friend from school! I knew he sometimes helps his family business, but to think that you'd even do business negotiations! I didn't know that your business was so big, Ciel."

Mr Lutzee raised an eyebrow. How did she not notice that this, _Ciel_, was the rudest person in the world? And how did she not know that he was a person who was negotiating on the behalf of Funtom?

Maybe the boy was part of a side split of Funtom who dealt with the negotiations. After all, if Funtom had someone like _him_ in their core Families, then the whole corporation would collapse.

He turned his attention back to Elizabeth, who was speaking to him once more.

"Ciel's not that great a people talker, but I hope he's given you a good impression of him! After all, I know him to be a clever person who will definitely bring advantages to this partnership you're holding. And I can trust my judgement, because I've helped you with profitable partnerships before, Mr Lutzee." Elizabeth smiled with her teeth. "And if you accept this partnership, trusting my judgement, I'm sure that more business opportunities will present themselves to you."

"Besides," Elizabeth added, her smile turning sweet, making Mr Lutzee forget the edge of her last words, "Having an extra business partner would give your company the benefits of having more room to spread and expand. With your abilities, I know this will happen, since you totally rejuvenated your company since you took it over two years ago, Mr Lutzee."

Mr Lutzee smiled. "You flatter me, Lizzy."

Elizabeth returned the smile. "I'm not flattering anyone – I'm just stating the truth, Mr Lutzee."

He laughed. "Still flattery, Lizzy!" She smiled cheekily at him. "But your points are valid."

He looked at Ciel, who had raised an eyebrow at the exchange. "I'll accept your proposal, Phantomhive, but I'll need to review it before I totally commit."

Ciel nodded coolly. "It's your choice."

Mr Lutzee suppressed his scowl, and nodded curtly instead. "I'll contact you again after three days, and we can seal the deal afterwards."

"Alright."

Ciel stood and offered a hand, which Mr Lutzee shook perfunctorily. He turned to Elizabeth.

"I'll see you next time, Lizzy." He smiled warmly at Elizabeth. "And send my regards to your family."

"I will!" Elizabeth smiled up at him.

And with one last look of scorn at Ciel, Mr Lutzee and his secretary left the restaurant.

"Ciel!" The boy looked up at her, halfway through sawing his meat. "I can't talk to you properly at the moment, my parents are waiting, but I'll catch you later in fencing, yeah?"

With that, Elizabeth returned back to her own meal, and left Ciel to dine silently alone.

* * *

"I'm sorry for missing the business meeting today, Ciel." Sebastian stood at Ciel's door after dinner. "How did it go?"

Ciel glared at him. "We got the deal. But Elizabeth got it for me."

"What do you mean?"

"The client stupidly rejected our offer, but Elizabeth happened to be eating at the same place and somehow managed to get him to accept it again, saying all that stuff about how the deal's really good, and sweet-talking her way through it all."

Ciel scowled at the memory. "Thinks she's so good and all. Why do we need to make them feel better? It's all about the deal, not about creating the right atmosphere or the right mood, or whatever!"

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you seen me numerous times negotiating business? Mood is important. Atmosphere is important. You lost today because you don't know how to do it."

He glanced at the wardrobe. "Tell me, Ciel, what were you wearing today?"

"My usual. The white shirt with the tucks, a navy neck ribbon with a gold pin, a grey coat, matching shorts, my navy shoes."

"Why didn't you dress in the outfit that I'd told you about?"

"There's no point. What do clothes have to do with a business meeting? A business meeting's a business meeting, not some sort of party or fashion show."

"That's another reason why you failed. Ciel, realise this. Even though it doesn't matter most of the time, but sometimes, you need to conform to the world a bit. You need to realise that your actions don't just affect you. They affect the rest of the world too!"

There was a slam, and Sebastian found himself staring at the back of Ciel's door.

* * *

Notes:

* mufti days – a day on which students pay $1 to $2 as a fundraiser for the right to wear whatever they want to school instead of their uniform

* * *

**Hi guys~!**

**I'm back from the dead! Yayyyy~ I'm finally on uni break, which means I'll be able to write more! Yayyy!**

**Anyways, the meetings referred to in the title are the meeting of the school to Ciel (finally and properly), the actual business meeting, Sebastian meeting the cats, Elizabeth crashing in and joining the meeting... and yeah. That's the meaning of the title explained haha otherwise there would've been too many different things to pick from XD**

**There's been a lack of Grell in the last few chapters... but he'll be coming back next update, so please look forward to that~**

**As always, a huge thank you to those who favourited/alerted/reviewed** (JasminDragon92, Angelic yet Demonic, kataang1996, AnimeXMangaAddict, Falcone Kaerva)** this story :) you give me encouragement and also massive loads of guilt for delaying updates so yes. Please keep supporting this story of mine ^^**

**Until next time,  
et-r**


End file.
